I'm Not Okay
by Zerepak
Summary: Alice returns to Underland to find that she is not safe there. The White Queen is taken by Ilosovic Stayne and he asks that in return Alice become his wife. Her only hope for escape is a mad man with luminous green eyes. Quite dark. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is my first ever fan fiction so any sort of criticism is greatly appreciated. I do not own any of the story or characters. They both belong to Tim Burton.**

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**Chapter 1: Finding Underland**

A violent moon shone brightly through her small round window as she scribbled frantically a final note to her family.

"_Dear my beloved mother and sister,_

_It is with great sadness that I write to you of such matters. Alas I have found myself captured by a strange new place. This news is not to bring you fear for it is of my own doing, I cannot find the will to leave this beautiful place. I have fallen in love with a man who will take care of me as well as satisfy my craving for travel. We are to set sail for his mother country once we reach land. My life has been erratic and I finally find myself needing stability which I have found in my love. I have been informed that I have been accepted as a lady of the court to his nation's queen. Mother, we shall prosper and I shall be happy for as long as I am with him. Margaret, I'm sure you understand that I cannot miss this opportunity for I will never find another man who will understand my absurdities. I hope to find that each of you is well, unfortunately due to my ship setting sail the moment I reach land I will never see you again. The only way we will be able to communicate is through letter. I love the both of you. You have nurtured my explorative nature and now it is time to allow it to thrive._

_Farewell and yours eternally, _

_Alice Kingsley"_

The quantity of light drifting through the window allowed her to quickly glance over her handy work. Of course the letter had many flaws.

She was not leaving London the moment she docked, nor was she eloping with the perfect man. She was nowhere exotic and beautiful; she was in her small quarters on the Ascot's Wonder. The enormous ship that had traveled many miles and shown her so many amazing sights was being retired here in the London harbor.

She put on her favorite long sleeved button down dress. It was cold out being the middle of February. There was a light dusting of powdered sugar snow over the city.

She found herself fiddling through her golden locks and puffing clouds of warm air as she walked down the long gangplank as she had so many times.

This time was the only that felt foreign to her through all of her travels. This place she used to call home was only another stop on the way to her true home...

Darkness would only cover her for a little while longer while she made her escape. Not only had she written a letter to her family but she had also left one for Mr. Ascot.

This particular piece of paper was her resignation from the company as well as a document signing over every cent she had accumulated to her mother, sister and stocks in her father's former trade company.

Her leave had not been completely unplanned. She had thought out every detail as she did with most things, but what had occurred tonight hastened her trip.

When shore was within sight the night before, a beautiful blue mimic butterfly floated near her head and reminded her that her home was not London. She had been unsure at first as to how to answer the butterfly. But in fact she had known all her life where she truly belonged. This life of propriety and aristocracy was not where she was meant to be.

She longed for the bright colors and illogical happenings that could keep up with her own peculiar way of thinking.

Wonderland.

Or was it Underland.

The memories of her favorite place seemed vague as of late.

Alice knew she needed to make her hasty move after she had actually accepted an invitation a ball and insisted on wearing stockings the night before. This was not who she was and she needed to leave before her personality drowned at sea along with her dignity.

So with her luggage aboard a carriage at the bottom of the long gangplank she continued down step by step.

She had always been so sure of her thoughts but now they seemed fuzzy and out of focus.

Each footfall was another memory of this fine trip that she would have to learn to accept as only a memory. She loved her exotic experiences but none of her wild Arabic horses or lovely Chinese dances could bestow the same fulfillment as her Underland.

As she stepped into the carriage and gave directions to the driver she smiled, quiet and excited for her next adventure.

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Thank you for reading! Please review, flame, anything!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I own nothing!**

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Lord Ascot's home was so intricately designed that one could almost confuse it with the home of royalty.

Alice held onto her vial of jabberwocky blood tightly. She had tied the glass container to her neck the moment she had packed to leave on her expedition.

Promises were not something that she took lightly and after she gave the Hatter her word that she would not forget him, she forced herself every day to think of him. Lately some of his finer details had been slipping her mind. The exact tone of voice he had when he ranted in his Outlandish accent or the color of his eyes. Were they green or were they yellow? She could not remember clearly…

Dwelling on her forgetfulness had dazed her.

When they reached the Ascot's manor she had not a clue that she was supposed to be getting out. The driver came back and opened the doors to the carriage and held his hand out to help her. When she did not respond he spoke to her.

"Miss, are you alright?" He said in a tone loud enough for Alice to hear, "I can take your things if you are in need of assistance."

Alice heard him through the fog of her thoughts and shook her head.

"I'm sorry. No I'm alright thank you."

She was losing it. Definitely mental.

She blinked several times to adjust her eyes to the darkness and paid the driver and picked up her luggage and began the hike to that old knotted tree.

When she arrived just above the peak of the hill where the forest began she looked down into the rabbit hole that had sucked her in just over two years ago.

She kneeled down before the hole and thought hard about where she most wanted to be and gripped the handle of her bag tightly. She reached down to her chest and pulled the vial out from her high necked dress.

The purple liquid did not taste so wonderful from what she remembered. It had a similar consistency of foul milk and the taste of an undercooked pork loin.

Before she could over think her next decision she poured the blood down her throat and thought hard of where she wanted to be most.

Everything around her faded into ultra color and felt herself falling. The next moment she was in a brightly lit place. Her body hovered for a moment before she hit the ground with a thud.

She could hear the faint sound of a skipping record player and felt herself redeveloping in this new place. Since nothing is very recognizable sideways she sat up shaking the dirt off of herself she stood and looked around.

Alice knew where she was immediately. Tulgey Wood was where she got lost her first time here.

Although it was quite some distance away she could see many mismatched chairs, a broken down windmill, a long poorly mended table and lastly she recognized the bright orange hair of her dear friend.

The blonde then ran. She ran towards her friends dropping everything that belonged to her in the rush.

She was nearly out of the woods but she needed to slow her pace and slowed to a complete halt and bent over and placed her palms on her knees for support. They must have been further than she thought.

Dresses were such a hassle they only slowed a woman down. She stood erect and leaned her right arm against a large tree.

"Pardon me! I have never been treated with so much disrespect in my life!"

Alice jumped away from the tree with a squeak and tripped backwards into a puddle. The tree twisted its face to look at her with beady black eyes.

"You ought to be ashamed! As a woman you should know that one should not touch another in such a way!"

"I'm sorry I should have known better." Alice apologized lamely as she stood and shook some of the mud from her formerly white dress.

The tree spoke with a very regal and haughty old woman's voice as she continued scolding her.

Alice was very embarrassed. She was only here for a few moments and she was already causing a scene.

She decided that what the tree had to say no longer mattered and sloshed towards her friends.

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The Hatter's eyes were so fluorescently colored they seemed to shine stared in Alice's direction.

He had always been a little off the wall but as of late he had been under the impression that Alice was only a figure he had dreamed up to keep him company.

Under the current circumstances he could only convince himself that the fluttering white and gold smudges in the distance were merely horn ducks.

Awful things they were, honking all day and night. He'd have to make sure they didn't nest nearby.

Then the most peculiar thing happened, he was dreaming but he was still in full focus. Dream Alice was walking deliberately toward the party and was covered in mud.

It was utter nonsense to think that a dream could become reality but he was not entirely sure of the difference between the two as it was anyway so he put that thought away for later examination.

This would not have been the best time for any kind of Alice to come to Underland.

No Alice was safe while Ilosovic Stayne was missing.

The White queen had specifically asked the Hatter to keep track of her sister, the Red queen, and Stayne. The Iracebeth had somehow been shrunk to the size of a momerath and Stayne was nowhere to be found.

Otherland Alice had told him of the disturbing actions the horrible man had taken while she was staying at the Red queen's castle. For some reason the thought of a man trying to touch her made his heart beat race and his thoughts came rapidly.

He considered things that started with the letter 'R'.

'_Resistance, rescue, red, rupture, ruined, revenge, render-'_

"Hatter."

The memory unintentionally made him grip his cup so tightly that when he became aware he noticed that the handle now looked like gravel and the cup fell to the table spilling over the edge and leaked through to his leg.

"Thank you. I'm fine." he squeaked from his poor sitting position.

He must have been rambling aloud again. Although he knew himself to be mad, sometimes he was more insane then he thought possible.

Things made sense in his head, but once they surfaced into words they never came out right.

"Hatter!"

Mallyumkin's ears perked up at the sound.

"Did anyone 'ear that?" She shouted at her company as she sipped at her small cup of tea.

The Hatter picked his head up from his slouched thinking position and smiled at the dormouse, "I do believe you made a pun my dear Mally!"

"Mally! Thackery! It's me! Alice!" Alice was shouting as loudly as he voice would carry. She had bunched up her wet skirts and allowed them to fall over her arms so she could jog.

"Alice? What's an Alice?" _Alice… Alice… Alice...Alice…_

The Hatter pondered for a moment his thoughts fluttered away and he mentally tried to grip them. The silly things were always trying to slip his mind.

"Oh!" He jumped onto the table in one fluid motion and walked briskly to the other end knocking over full teapots, dishes and even Mally.

His eyes flickered between a light green and a curious blue as she ran towards him covered in thick mud.

As she reached the Hatter she outstretched her arms and pulled him into a tight hug and mashed her face against his floppy bowtie. The Hatter picked her up and did a quick spin lifting her legs with momentum.

The Hatter held her up and looked at her face with a goofy grin, "You have something on your face."

Alice was mortified. She reached up to wipe it away but his hand got to it first.

He, as gently as he could, pressed his rough thumb against her cheekbone to remove the dirt that resided there.

"Why is dirt on your face, it belongs on the ground you know." He told her scoldingly.

Alice was trapped by his beautiful eyes. The world around them could have completely disappeared and she would be oblivious.

Moments later she heard Mally cough loudly. It was only then that the Hatter noticed that he was holding Alice suspended above the earth for a hearty minute or two.

She looked up at him with a delicate smile, "Hatter, would you mind letting me down?"

After he complied with a confused look upon his face he showed her back to her seat from the last time she had barged in on a tea party.

The chair was not her favorite chair aesthetically but she was happy with any seat so long as she could be near her friends.

"So where have you been miss?" The Hatter asked excitedly with his slight lisp, "you're late for tea again."

"In London of course, and many other strange and wonderful places," Alice smiled and happily told him about her escape back to Underland and about the offended tree… and the puddle.

"I was wondering why you were all wet; it was only assumed that you had sprung a leak." He replied without batting an eyelash.

A smile crossed the young lady's face and explained the incident, at the end of her explanation she happened to realize that she was wearing wet dress and the temperature seemed to drop rather drastically.

She quickly and delicately crossed her arms across her chest after getting a slight chill.

"I think I need to go inside for a minute." Alice said, "It's rather chilly out here!"

"It 'as been colder lately 'asn it?" Mally replied, "Ever since that Knave broke loose it's been gettin' colder an' colder."

The Hatter's face turned from a happy, hopeful smile to a droopy concentrated line. He knew that Alice wasn't safe in the windmill with him and his friends.

"Let's take a healthy ride to Marmoreal! The queen must miss us terribly!" He began to get up but Alice's shivering troubled him, "Would you like a change of clothes, your lips look like you've been eating too many blueberries."

Her chattering teeth were her response and he went inside the doorway and asked her to come along with him.

Their house was not exactly what Alice was expecting. One room from another each had a completely different theme. Their doorway led into a foyer that contained a staircase that wound around and around and around and around to the top of the windmill. This room was impeccably well kempt with photos on every wall and a small tidy bookshelf.

The room just beyond the doorway was small and there was not a part of the room that was not filthy and poorly kept. There were shards of glass on the floor and what looked like it might have been a kitchen sink at one point scattered about the floor and ceiling. There was a ceiling fan on the ground and a fancy couch nailed to the ceiling.

"Come along, we don't want to dilly-dally along! Don't mind the clean we'll have it fixed soon. It seems the windmill is upset with us." The Hatter called from all the way at the top of the tall staircase.

He then threw down a lump of fabric. "Try this on it looks about your size."

"Where is a good place for me to get changed?"

"Where you are is a good place."

Alice giggled, shook her head, and moved into one of the small rooms so the Hatter would not be able to see her.

She peeled off her wet clothing and tried on the dull pink dress he had thrown down to her. It was a nice dress and it fit her well. It was not as beautiful as some of his other work she had seen during her last trip.

When she opened the door to the room she saw the Hatter standing with his arms crossed giving her a disapproving look, "What are you doing in there?"

"I needed to change my clothes, remember?"

The tip of the Hatter's nose turned pink and his eyes turned a lighter green, "Oh, yes I forgot, little things are always slipping my mind now a days." He said with a small embarrassed grin.

He then looked her dress over and touched the fabric of the collar and brushed his work hardened fingers against her skin.

This made the little hairs on the back of Alice's neck tingle slightly. '_What _was_ that?' _She thought _'Never mind it; you've never fancied people touching you it must just be a nervous feeling.'_

"Are you still cold? You have goose bumps."

Alice barked a single laugh and began towards the door and the Hatter followed, very confused.

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"Oh Thackery, I can't find my things if you see a bag of clothing lying around please let me know." Alice knew that telling him would make no difference, especially since he was engrossed by his scone.

Thackery decided he wanted to stay behind and guard the tea from the Cheshire cat. The remaining group set off, Mally was sitting on Tarrant's hat and Alice walked a step behind.

She was taking in all of the sights, there seemed to be new signs every time she walked this trail.

"Don't… eat… the… swing bats?" Alice read the signs as they passed. Above the sign were beautifully enticing looking fruits of all different sizes and shapes.

"Did you say something dearie?" said the little dormouse.

One of the smaller fruits opened its great big eyes and made a squeal and flew off. Nothing here could possibly get boring.

After some time they were at the gates of Marmoreal, the Hatter yelled at the door and demanded that it open up for the champion of Underland.

"It is very rude for a gate not to open when it is told, especially for a champion." He yelled at it, "The bloody thing thinks I'm fibbing, say something to him Alice."

Alice just shrugged and said "Please open?"

The gates swung open and the trio walked on through. Marmoreal was so bright, everything was lightly colored and shining clean.

"Is that our champion?" A lovely floating voice drifted to Alice's ears and she looked up to see a splendid woman dressed as a fairytale should when the princess marries sweet prince.

Mirana looked around gracefully before leaping down from the top of the stairs to hug Alice. She even smelled like a queen should. Something woody and floral; like honeysuckles.

The Hatter and Mally left them to find some tea, nearly a day's travel with no tea!

The graceful woman's eyes then darkened as she told Alice of the discouraging news about Stayne.

"Yes, I heard my lady. Mally said something about it when I arrived."

"Please do not call me that, we are friends are we not? Call me Mirana in personal company. Did Tarrant tell you why-" The queen was stopped in midsentence by a tall man in all white. Her eyes followed him as he entered the room; a small smile crossed her face.

"Who is that?" asked Alice who was now also watching the man. He was very handsome with porcelain skin and light blonde hair, a strong face and the uniform of a royal guard.

"That is Burne Esmond, he is my personal guard and very close friend." The queen responded dreamily she still had a silly smile on her face as she watched him exit the room.

Alice could see immediately that there was much more to the story than that but she was not one to pry into another's thoughts.

"He is a good looking fellow," Alice began, "is he nice to you?"

"Of course he is, I am the white queen remember?" Mirana responded with mirth but with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

"What were you going to say about _Tarrant_ if I may ask?" Alice said trying to change the subject since it was obviously upsetting her. The use of the Hatter's real name was not new yet she never found herself referring to him by it.

"Oh, well while Stayne and Iracebeth were in exile they had grown a small army of nasty beings that have been sent out of our peaceful land for one reason or another." She explained forebodingly, "Now that Stayne is nowhere to be found, his followers have gone missing as well."

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**Please R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Usually Tarrent Hightopp's mind was buzzing with obscure thoughts that only he could put in any kind of order but today he had only two thoughts.

Alice Kingsley. _Alice Alice Alice Alice…_

And breathing. That one is rather important as well.

Though he was not too sure which one was more important. Since Alice left he hadn't been able to do much. He didn't feel himself, nothing made sense and he could not find the inspiration to make fantastical works of art into hats.

He had never thought of one person so much in his life. Days seemed to have perked up since  
Alice came back. It had been three days and they had all been asked to stay at the castle for the safety of Underland's champion.

The white queen asked him out front if he would want to be her guardian. What could be a better cure to his distracting thoughts than to spend time with his Alice?

'Your_ Alice? Why would you think that you great imbecile?' _He hated when his mind was malevolent. It was always calling him mad and scrambling his thoughts up so they were incoherent.

"No, I don't mean that she belongs to me I only mean that she is close to me is all. I call the queen 'my lady' why would I not call Alice 'my Alice'?" he retorted with a saucy eyebrow raise .

'_You know it means something more you bumbling idiot just admit it she has grown into splendid woman.' _ The Hatter frowned at this, _'She is beautiful, strong, she can form proper sentences and she cares about you.'_

"I know all of that but none of this drabble will get me anywhere I am a madman you know, you are just being impolite and unnecessary. Alice, no, _my_ Alice could never care for me in that way even if I do."

'_Yellow-bellied sissy.'_

"Shut up." His final word against himself seemed rather unsatisfying.

"Who are you talking to, Hatter?" Tarrant whirled around to see Alice standing in his doorway with her hair curling around her beautiful heart shaped face her slender body seemed soft and glowing in the dim light from the hall.

"No one my Alice. Since I am alone in this room, or shall I say _was_ alone and if I were talking to myself that would make me madder than a hatter, which I am but aside from that you would find me rather insa-"

Tarrant was obviously losing his control as he ranted on, his shining green eyes were laced with gold and the teal and purple shadows about his eyes were growing darker. Even his voice grew dark and his Outlandish accent began coming out.

"Hatter!"

"-and other than hats I do... hats." He swallowed the rest of his words with a gulp, "I'm fine."

Alice cocked an eyebrow at his poor excuse.

"Are you?" She asked gently her clear blue eyes searing a hole straight through him.

"I'm sure I am. I am also sure I would like some tea with you today that is if you would not mind spending time with a raving lunatic." He added with his sweet, lisping tone.

"Of course I want to spend time with my favorite mad hatter. You are a large part of why I came back in the first place." She smiled at him and with that she turned on her heel and walked back down the hall way.

'_Her _favorite _mad hatter?' _his mind thought at him.

"She does not mean it in that way; now go away I have to put on my best attire for tea with my Alice"

'_Why your best attire? I thought you didn't want her like that.'_

"Well… you are still wrong this is a castle I must look my best anyway!"

'_No need to lie Tarrant, I'm your mind your secret is safe with me.'_ The hatter took off his hat and fiddled with it for a minute. Shy to even tell his own thoughts of his secrets.

He then walked over to the brightly lit balcony and looked down towards where he and Alice would be meeting and his heart felt as though it might burst if it got any bigger.

'_You love her you stupid mug.'_

"I know."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** **This one is really short but I'm putting up two chapters today. I would really like to know what everyone thinks!**

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Chapter 4

"Stayne"

A tall man with raven hair faced a long window which displayed a vast wasteland of burned down forests and pits of black tar.

"I'm thinking, come back later." He responded shortly.

"The Alice has returned on schedule as you predicted." The messenger stated with a slimy smirk.

Stayne rested his forearm against the glass and laughed, "Send in the knave I must have a word with him."

The messenger evaporated away in a puff of black smoke.

He found the perfect place to contain his army, as well as his new royal lineage. An ancient castle that had been built for the original royal family. It had been burned and many lives had been lost within the halls of his new abode.

It made Stayne feel at home and almost peaceful to know that he had so much control. When he was serving the Red queen he had his orders followed because she favored him so much. The big headed bint was more than willing to do anything he said.

'_It is more gratifying to be feared than loved, I would have to petrify dear Alice if I were to ever have her_.' He thought about the girl more than he should. He might develop a soft spot for her if he was not careful.

'_Why does this woman captivate you so? So many others would fall to your feet for the chance to be your queen, why Alice is so important?'_ he had not been able to answer these questions through all of his planning. All he knew was that he needed to have her.

'_She is very attractive, and she holds so much power over the people of Underland.'_ He fantasized, _'She is so… innocent for someone who killed the jabberwocky.'_

Some vulgar thoughts danced through his mind and he smiled wickedly_, 'I'll have to fix that.' _

A hard knock came to his door.

"Come in."

A tall man with golden hair walked through the door. Stayne could mistake this man for a god is he was not entirely sure of his conniving purpose.

"Mirana is completely in love with me." The knave explained, "Women are so frail, they will fall to their knees for any man who calls her pretty."

Although they were opposites, they were also the same. The knave and Stayne both needed a woman to take over Underland together.

"Well brother, time and fate seem to be smiling upon us. Alice has returned and she is staying at Marmoreal." Stayne determined staring back out the window.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Stayne, Tarrant has not been beyond sight of her since she returned. You know as well as I do that he is a formidable guard."

"If that lunatic is the reason Alice doesn't go along with my plan then he shall be the one who pays." The darker man growled then cracked his neck.

"I have to return to Marmoreal, Mirana will be worried and I have to think of a cover story." The white knave left the room and left Stayne to his own thoughts.

That Hightopp clan should have been destroyed years ago. This should not have continued.

When Stayne and his brother were young their father told them that the only way for them to become royalty would be to kill them. Tarrant Hightopp had ruined every plan of his since the beginning.

'_When he first attacked the white queen, he led her away to safety. When Alice was in Iracebeth's court, he convinced her to find the Vorpal sword and with that she took the Bandersnatch as well. He distracted the Jabberwocky from killing her and he was able to best me. Now, that disgusting harebrained man was planning on keeping that enticing woman away from me.' _Ilosovic thought

'_I have to take her away from him or he will ruin everything I have worked to build.'_

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Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Alice was giddy with excitement. She was never so excited to have tea with someone as much as today. It was also duly noted that she had never actually had even a sip of tea with the Hatter.

She dressed in one of the dozens of dresses given to her by Mirana. They were all different colors; she remembered that many people in London and even people from other countries had complimented on how she looked in blue.

She decided to wear a dress that was a basic white number with a blue band across her waist and a draping of light blue frilling over the entire dress and over her arms and the same colored ribbon that held the fabric to her wrists and shoulders.

Her maid, Edlyn, did her hair gently so it flowed around her face and pulled back some of it with a beautiful blue rose shaped pin.

"How does this look dear?" The motherly woman asked.

"Beautiful, thank you so much. Do I look alright?" Alice asked with a touch of pink on her cheeks, _'Why am I so nervous?'_

"You will make the poor old man fall t' pieces." She responded quaintly.

"You say old Edlyn; the Hatter is not so old do you think?" Alice said as she examined herself in a mirror.

"Oh, I meant nothin' by it; he has an ancient charm to him." She answered with a smile, "He is such a gentle soul he is."

He truly was, he was perfect in her mind. Sometimes the way he looked at her made her think that he felt the same way but she did not want to have hope for something so impossible.

Alice smiled and thanked her again as she walked down to meet Tarrant at the lovely white marble table in the courtyard.

The orange hair was always the first thing anyone noticed about Tarrant. Then were his bright eyes and vivid marks by them which were caused by the terrible mercury that entered his body each time he worked on a hat.

It is said that the hats were what made him crazy, but Stayne's invasion is what caused him to go mad. That man had cause deep rooted damage to the Hatter which would never be cured.

"You look beautiful." Tarrant commented with a grin, he quickly turned his attention to the wonderful china that Mirana allowed him to use. He was afraid that on a whim he might throw one of them so he tried to keep his calm.

They talked and laughed about this and that regarding all sorts of things.

"I haven't laughed this much…ever!"Alice said smilingly

"Well if you are planning to stay…" Tarrant began with curiosity edging his voice, "…then you are bound to go a bit mad."

"Well since I do plan on calling Underland my home I think I should get to know the area a touch better, don't you agree?" she added slyly while pouring another cup of tea.

"Well if you insist, I know the area rather well if you would like to accompany me for a carriage ride tonight before after dinner." The Hatter proposed in a gentlemanly way.

Alice's face lit up. "I would love that, when does Mirana like to have dinner?"

"It changes, she's as mad as the rest of us. She has been taking her's in her room lately with _Burne_." Tarrant spat the man's name.

"What do you have against Burne? He seems nice to her. They are always walking together and they seem to have a good time together." Alice was very confused.

"I don't trust him, he makes my skin crawl the way Stayne did. It seems like he is after something shameful." His brogue was beginning to rear its head as he continued, "he has this look in his eyes as if Mirana is his for the taking. She is a queen and should have a man who will take care of her instead of take her away from her friends."

Alice had noticed less and less of Mirana around and she had not been around for long enough for it to seem out of place. The queen seemed happy and she did not want to see that taken from her. She still thought that the hatter was wrong about the man; he seemed decent enough for Mirana.

The sound of breaking glass brought Alice out of her reverie.

"Hatter! Stop!"

His eyes were darkened with madness, and his hand was bleeding from the glass he crushed with it. While his mouth was sealed shut his eyes showed all of his emotions.

Alice climbed over the table and took his hands. The one was torn up from the glass and the other was clenched into a hard fist.

"Hatter… please give me your hand." She said gently as she covered his fist with her small fingers.

It snapped open and the Hatter seemed to relax. Two small glass tears rolled from her eyes, he seemed to be in pain.

"A-Alice, I'm sorry. I was thinking horrible things. You look scared." Tarrant's white face looked like it had bleached three shades lighter his eyes were wide but they still held some of their golden hue. His sweet voice was now speaking to her.

"I could never be scared of you; if I could fight and defeat the jabberwocky I have no reason to fear you." Alice was trying to brighten the occasion but her curiosity got the best of her, "What exactly were you thinking that made you so upset?"

His body went rigid and he straightened his sitting position.

"I was thinking about you."

These words were hurtful, "Why did that disturb you?"

"No, no, no, no, I was thinking about when you were in the bloody big head's castle." His voice became quiet and dangerous." When Stayne tried to force himself on you." He crushed his hands closed again with a crunching sound. "That white knave looks at Mirana like Stayne looked at you."

Alice's hands were on his face in the next moment.

"Tarrant Hightopp everything is alright." She cooed, stroking the side of his face with her fingertips.

"I'm okay Alice." He mumbled, embarrassed by his behavior.

"I don't think you are, look at your hand, I'm taking you to the infirmary." Alice climbed down from the table and led him inside.

"Why does that memory make you so angry, Hatter?" Alice stayed with him while a beautiful woman with white hair and dark lips took the glass out of his hand.

"I don't like to think of bad things happening to my friends but I am most protective of you. Ouch!" The woman poured a clear liquid over the open wound. She then left the room.

He watched the nurse walk out then continued, "Also, I should be making you laugh, not cry."

"You didn't make me cry, I was worried about you. That isn't your fault." Alice explained as she stroked the skin on his forearm.

"That feels so nice. You are so wonderful. This is one of the reasons I…" Tarrant opened his mouth to say more but he dropped it and swallowed the rest of his words.

"You what?" Alice urged.

"I can't say it, my mouth won't let me."

He could barely resist telling her how he felt, but he knew that if she did not feel the same he would never feel happy again. The champion of Underland deserved a prince, not a lowly hatter. Especially not a mad, dangerous one that makes her cry.

"Well tell your mouth that Alice wants to hear what you were going to say." Those eyes were what made him say it, or so he tells himself.

"I love you Alice." Whispered the hatter.

Her heart swelled. The beautiful young woman had tossed around the idea. She thought so highly of him, he understood her and not to mention he was very handsome. He was the reason she was still alive in many aspects. She indeed loved him too.

Each moment that passed, Tarrant regretted his words more and more. They sat in silence until his wonderful Alice opened her pretty mouth and said the words, "I love you too."

Tarrant stood up and pulled Alice up into a tight hug. She felt her cheek mush up against his chest and she wrapped her slight arms around his torso.

"I love you, I love you, I love you! You said you love me! This must be a dream it is impossible to be this happy!" he chanted into her ear.

"I like to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast." She smiled up at his softly glowing eyes.

"You have told me that once before, what are some impossible things you believed today?" He asked her.

"Well, one was that I had blood that could take me to Underland. Two, trees talk. Three, there were bats that can also be fruit. Four was the potential that I could fall in love. Five was my ability to actually drink tea with the Mad Hatter. Five, is that gates respond to voices. Six is that you return my love."

Alice blushed when she looked up, there seemed to be a magnetic force drawing their faces closer and closer. Then she heard the door open.

They were suddenly back in their seats patiently awaiting the nurse who had appeared back in the room.

"Well, Mr. Hightopp, your hand seems to be healing just fine. It should be entirely closed up by tomorrow morning." The woman told Tarrant.

"Well thank you for your Time, I know he can be a tricky little devil." and with that he pulled Alice by the hand and walked down the halls until they were in front of the castle.

"I'm sorry Alice, it was going to be a surprise but I'm too excited. We're having dinner together tonight. After your tour of the grounds we're stopping at Mirror Lake." The Hatter was so excited that his lisping voice seemed to speed up drastically.

Alice laughed as he took her hand and helped her into a carriage and told the horse to bring them everywhere.

"I knew that _thing_ would try to ruin this." A tall dark figure was watching the pair from a distant tree. He leaped down from a branch and watched where they were heading through his binoculars.

"Mirror Lake? How romantic."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Mirana."

A golden glow was wandering through the glass doors of the balcony. Mirana looked over her shoulder to see the man of her dreams.

Burne was the perfect man in her eyes. All the ladies of the court could see that he was the most stunningly attractive man in all the land. He was the knight in shining armor.

She smiled and floated lightly to him to place a swift and gentle kiss on his flawless lips. Their relationship had taken a romantic turn after Alice left Underland.

Admiring his good looks seemed too transparent to her so she thought about his sweet tempered personality. He was always making jokes and keeping her from becoming overwhelmed by her work.

"Burne, I love you so much." She kissed him again and again. He reached his long fingers into her hair and pulled her closer to intensify their kisses.

The moonlight lit the room delicately as they embraced. They had made it a routine to have dinner together each night. Since she was the queen the two had little time to themselves.

There were many jealous women who tried repeatedly to take him from her. At first she was nervous that Alice might attempt to steal him, but luckily Tarrant seemed enough of a distraction.

They kissed passionately as they stumbled their way to Mirana's bed. Whispering 'I love you' in between kisses and moans.

This part of their love was what intoxicated her. She could not get enough of Burn, his body was an addiction. Her vows, as strongly convicted as she was, were not enough to stop them from the act of love.

He removed her shimmering dress and kissed his way from the tips of her toes up her body. The brush of his lips seemed to tingle and warm her.

She laid there in only her bloomers as he took off his armor and whispered seductively into her ear.

Once he was undressed he pressed his body against her and removed her undergarment so he could have access to her most sensitive area.

A gasp escaped as his manhood entered her. Her hips met his in their intimate act, the pace quickening with each stroke. As she reached her climax Burne leaned his godlike head back and released his seed into her.

Her father would have had her exiled for such disgraceful activity but she could not help herself so long as he was around. It was as if she could not breathe without a dose of Burne.

They lay on her bed panting from exertion. His magnificent head turned to grace her with a beautiful speech.

"Mirana, I love you more than life. I want to share with you eternity and more. We should travel together; we need time for ourselves." He spoke lovingly into her ear.

She looked at him, dazed by his beauty for a moment, "I want that more than anything dear, but you know I cannot leave the castle right now. Stayne is loose and my sister is being held in a goldfish bowl in confinement. It is unsafe; we must at least wait until he is found."

He groaned, which to Mirana sounded almost inappropriate. She blushed and wrapped her hands around him. Disappointing him would make her so upset so she coddled him.

"What if it was only for a little while, a couple of days maybe." He urged with his translucent blue eyes.

Mirana sighed, she adored his eyes. They were so soulful and distractingly striking.

"Soon my love, but not right now. Alice needs to settle in and maybe then we can take a trip somewhere together." She lied. She could not risk going out of the castle grounds while Ilosovic was missing.

"Alright, a compromise it is. In two weeks we should go to Witzend and we'll go through the forest and meet some of the folk in the area." Burn leaned his head back as he held Mirana closer to him.

All she could do was snuggle closer and agree with whatever he said.

They fell asleep together without a care in the world.

The queen awoke with a start. She was soaked through with sweat and Burn was not with her.

"Love?" she called into the darkness of her room.

Her darling Burne was pouring himself a glass of wine, "I'm here, just getting something to help you sleep.'

She took the glass gratefully and took a long sip. The grapes from that particular year were splendid.

A heavy sheet of drowsiness arose and she felt herself fading quickly. She would have felt frightened if she were in any other company.

Then the pain came.

She tried to take hold of Burne's hand but he just continued to pour the alcohol down her throat.

It was as if a thousand needles were falling onto her. Keeping her down and preventing her from moving. A gleaming white arm wrapped around her and dragged her to the balcony. The pain from this movement was excruciating.

"Please…" She could say nothing more before darkness took her.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful comments! Onward!**

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**Chapter 7**

The Hightopp clan was one of great valor and hattery. The hatter himself could not think of a piece of criteria that his Alice did not fit.

'_Mrs. Alice Hightopp, Alice Hightopp, Mrs. Hightopp, Alice Kingsley Hightopp…'_

Ideas were squirming around Tarrant's mind like a newborn drum tadpole. He would begin a thought involving Alice and it would end, describing everything about her in detail.

As the sun was beginning to set he tried to look at something other than Alice and his eyes would not let him. He reached up to poke himself in the eye but the carriage stopped and Alice, his dear friend and love pulled on his wrist to restrain him from teaching his sight a lesson.

"Hatter, what are you doing?" she said laughingly as the curled his finger back into his hand.

"I can't seem to find a way not to look at you and it is extremely rude to stare. But you are so beautiful, and I can't wrap my mind around you. Although minds cannot wrap I tried once and it hurt…alot." He rubbed his head and explained, "We need to get to the lake!"

Tarrant quickly helped Alice out of the carriage and threw something to the horse. As they came upon the lake Alice noticed something strange.

There was no lake to be found. With that there was not even a drop of water.

The sun set and reflected into a million shards of light. Under beautiful lights there was an enormous mirror. It seemed to go on forever. There seemed to be two sunsets, one in the sky and another on the ground.

It was almost disorienting. The hatter ran with her to the edge of the silver pool of light.

Alice dropped the hatter's hand and dropped to her knees to look into the reflection. She had never witnessed anything so breathtaking in her life through all of the places she had traveled.

Her reflection, she noticed, seemed to waver when she stepped closer to the edge.

"Alice?"

"This is so beautiful Tarrant, thank you." She responded without turning around.

He came by and galumphed to the ground with a resounding thud and took her hand.

"That is water you know. It's said that it is the purest in all of Underland." He whispered into the crisp air.

With wide eyes, Alice leaned forth and touched the tense surface. The entire lake rippled and caused the pinks, blues, purples oranges and yellows from the sun reflect everywhere.

"Why is that hatter? Why is this water so pure?" she was entranced by the water she could not find the will to look away.

Tarrent moved forward and brushed a wavy length of hair from her eyes, "Well a unicorn lives in the water. She is rumored to have been Mirana's mother, while the late Queen of Crims was that bloody red queen's."

Alice raised an eyebrow and forced herself to look to the man beside her. A gasp escaped her lips when she looked at him. His eyes had captured every color that splayed from the lake. They were more beautiful than ever before. Before she could think straight she planted a small, light kiss on his lips.

Her cheeks tinged pink and she asked, "Do you think that is the truth?"

"You're very curious today, do you have a cat?"

A pair of bright green eyes appeared just above Tarrant's hat.

"No, my cat died a long time ago, but you seem to have one yourself." She giggled and motioned with her eyes to the hat.

A mist appeared, revealing the Cheshire cat, "You know I hate to spoil the fun but you two need to come back to the castle. Cats might have nine lives, but I'm afraid you were not so blessed."

The cat's wide grin was always his trademark especially when he eyed up Tarrant's favorite hat. The orange haired man gave the cat a wary look before standing up and offering Alice his hand.

"You seem worried Chess what is really going on." Tarrant sounded defensive as he called for another carriage.

"Just a little business you must attend to immediately." The cat's body disappeared and as he laughed his grin faded to nothing.

The couple exchanged worried looks. Chess did not involve himself in things that were dangerous, but they knew he would not have come if there was not a real problem.

When they arrived back at the bone pale castle the saw that the sky was dark and ominous. There were no people out nor were there any guards.

The hatter yelled at the gate until it opened and a chess piece came to accompany them to their rooms. The pawn explained to them the situation involving the queen and Burne. The empty wine bottle had been found along with shreds of clothing and claw marks on the balcony.

Green happy eyes turned to a golden yellow immediately.

"I knew that grundle gurgling knave had no business with Mirana." His madness was under control, but barely.

All the horses and men were out the next morning to find the queen. One man stayed behind only long enough to inform Alice of her most recent duty.

"I can't accept; I'm sorry!" Alice stepped away from McTwisp with a quivering lip.

"But if you aren't queen then who is?" The white rabbit was very nervous and bowed his head.

"McTwisp, I may have defeated the Jabberwocky but that entitles me to enough. I can't be the queen." Alice was scared. She had never had much power in London; she could barely choose what kind of toast she wanted with her eggs. But she was being appointed queen until Mirana was found and returned to her post.

A strong pair of arms wrapped around her midsection and a pair of lips touched her ear, "Alice, my love, you need to. There is no one else for the job."

Defeated, she dropped her tense shoulders and told McTwisp that she could take the crown until the true queen returned.

"This will not be too difficult I presume." Alice was walking with the hatter to her new room.

He kissed her on the forehead, "All you have to do is keep your head and make sure you don't trip and fall."

'_I do hope her head stays on I'm not sure I'd be able to reconnect it…' _Tarrant's eyes were touched with gold until he shook his head and convinced himself that he wasn't crazy.

Alice walked into her doorway and looked back to see if the hatter had left. There he stood with his smile taking his face over. She cocked an eyebrow then widened her eyes with worry as he stepped through the frame.

"What are you doing? You can't be in here!" She pushed his shoulders back until he encircled her wrists with his own hands.

"I am allowed in here so long as you let me. I've been assigned as your personal guard." He nonchalantly explained.

"By who's orders?" He pulled her into a hug.

"By my orders, Mirana asked me to be your guardian and I don't think Marmoreal is safe anymore." He smiled down at her.

"This is very-" Alice's words were interrupted by lips softly crushing hers.

"Alice. I love you more than anything in this world. I hate to rush into things but I'm not sure when I will be able to see you alone again so I have to get these words out of my head now." He pushed her backwards until her bottom was on her bed. He sat next to her and held her hands in his lap.

"Please don't get upset I hate when your eyes get wet. I need to know if your heart feels like mine."

A light shone through the window and caught Alice's crystalline blue eyes. Tarrant tried to speak but all that came out was a squeak. He looked away quickly to unscramble his thoughts.

"Don't speak Tarrant, I do love you. I can't stop thinking about you. Your madness is part of you. So in a way I love your madness, I hope that isn't what this is about." Alice explained.

Smiling, the hatter pulled her close, "You are making this much easier for me."

His eyes were the brightest green she had ever seen them. He then held her away from him and looked at her with the straightest face he could muster, "Alice, I need to know if you would ever consider marrying me."

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**Thank you for reading! Tomorrow I'll probably have another out.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! Thank you all for so much support! Don't worry things start cooking up after this chapter. This is more of a necessary one than something I enjoyed writing.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**Chapter 8**

"T-Tarrant!" Alice's face was incredulous as she searched for the words that seemed to escape her now.

She was never the girl who thought of marriage as a quickly approaching subject. Thoughts were just birds flying from her ears. Marriage? Who gets married at twenty and one? Considering marriage and actually being asked the question were so completely different.

Tarrant's emotional eyes darkened as time passed without an answer. Disappointment swept through him, he dropped his eyes and let go of Alice's hands.

"I have to go…" he started.

In the next moment a small warm body was pressed against his own. His face was pressed into the golden tangles of Alice's hair; he loved the way she smelled.

"I want to be with you, Tarrant, forever, but I'm not sure if we're ready…"

The hatter's entire being lifted and he pulled her tightly to him, "Alice! I wasn't asking you to marry me _now_; I was asking if you'd consider it."

'_You wanted to say yes Alice! Why don't you ever take your own advice?' _she thought to herself.

"Oh!" she was humiliated and saddened, "Well, yes, I have toyed with the idea-"

Suddenly, his lips were on hers as he gently led her backwards until she was on her bed; fingers twisted through her hair and pressed his body into her.

"Tarrant… Love… Wait…" she breathed between kisses.

Her head was spinning as she realized the situation she was in. Charles Kingsley did not raise an improper lady.

Being a gentleman, the hatter complied and sat up beside her, "I'm sorry, what's the hatter with me!"

Alice's face turned ten shades of pink before she could recollect her thoughts. Looking at Tarrant seemed like an impossible task at this point in time. She instead closed her eyes and took his hand.

"There is nothing wrong with you. I might have gotten caught in it up if you had actually been asking me to marry you." She admitted as she fingered at the thimble on his finger.

He then tilted her head to look at him. His eyes were a deep blue and his features were painted with grief, "If I had that ability I would tomorrow, but there is something very wrong. I asked you that question because I need to know if you'd be able to spend… some time away from me."

"I don't know what you mean." Her voice quivered, spending time away from him would be like living without a heart.

Sighing, he told her his meaning, "There was a note left by Burne when he took Mirana. It stated that if the queen is to ever return," He stopped to keep his thoughts from rushing out of him mouth from madness, "You will be the ransom."

With the words went the hatter's sanity. He tried to rip himself away from Alice but her tender touch held him there with her.

Pressing his palms against his head he began to riddle off on a tangent.

"Awful… alone… aggravate… abduct..,"

Alice was in shock, why did she always cause trouble? She pulled his hands down and hugged him tightly before shouting his name.

"Tarrant!"

"..Angel… thank you." He sputtered to a stop.

"Are you alright?" She was worried after this bout of insanity that he'd really lost it.

His blank stare in the opposite direction did not help his cause.

"Hatter! What's on your mind?"

He dropped his head and smiled to the ground. Truly showing that his nickname was not just an affectionate game.

"Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?"

Alice let go of the breath she had been holding and cracked a slight smirk, "I haven't the slightest idea."

"Alice, could you wear this? It does not have to mean anything if you don't wish it to, but it would mean everything to me if you wore it while you are away." He pulled out a tiny white box. When he opened it there was a tiny, delicate butterfly.

With a small gasp she took the delightful piece of brilliant metal and placed it on her ring finger.

"It is incredible, did you make it?" She asked while examining it.

The hatter could not look any happier as he explained to her how jewelry was not his specialty; but he had indeed made the ring. The sight of his ring on her finger evoked heated feelings that he cared not to contain.

"When am I supposed to leave to get Mirana back?" She was not scared for herself, only for the sweet and gentle queen.

"As soon as the morning comes. I'm worried about what he wants with you." There was obviously more on his mind than he was letting onto.

"Why are you worried? There is nothing I have to give him so he's wasting his time." Alice concluded with a proud tone.

The mad hatter than put both of his hands on her shoulders and locked onto her eyes.

"Alice. You are incredibly beautiful. What do men want from beautiful women?" His question was not meant to be answered. She understood what he meant with a small bite of fear in the pit of her stomach.

The hatter went on, "That letter was signed by Ilosovic Stayne."

The fear finally set in. The man who wanted her as Um from Umbridge wanted her as Alice, the Champion of Underland as well.

"But that means that Mirana is with him," Alice began to panic as tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision, "What if she gets hurt?"

A thrill of laughter sprung through Tarrant, "Alice, my love, you are completely bonkers. She will be fine; it's you everyone is worried about."

His eyes were a flaming orange when he finally leaned down and kissed her.

Tarrant's tongue danced across her lip and he pulled her down until they were both on Alice's bed. His body lay on top of hers and he looked into her eyes with curiosity. Alice held onto him as years of being held down and being told how to live were washed away. Feelings that neither had truly felt were being set free to do as they pleased.

This time she could not resist. She would not lose her virtue to Ilosovic Stayne.

Under the pale moonlight Alice's tears of pain and ecstasy were washed away by love and surrender.

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Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So to answer a question or two. Yes, Tarrant kind of tricked Alice into becoming engaged to him and the ending of the last chapter was vague for a reason. You will all see when the time comes!**

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Chapter 9

Pink eye lids from the morning light awoke Underland's champion. She couldn't quite remember the night before. Her body felt as if all of her bones had been replaced with gelatin. Turning over she noticed a plume of vibrant orange hair. Then she remembered.

Technically she had the ring on her , if it quacks…

Softly, Alice kissed her love's neck and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. She knew what she had done was wrong, but it needed to be done. After she found out about Stayne's plan she could not let him have the only thing she had total control over.

Lost in thought, she did not notice Tarrant stirring. Staring.

He was nervous. If Gravity would let him go he might have been able to say something. He and the old chap had really gotten off on the wrong foot when he was young. Since then Gravity only helped when it was least wanted. Falling out of bed for instance.

This got Alice's attention. She shot up and looked down to see her fiancé looking around as if the world had begun to make sense.

They looked at each other. Then themselves, they both started laughing until Alice was doubled over. Neither had any idea what they were laughing at.

"What are you laughing at?" Alice could finally muster as she covered herself up with blood spotted sheets.

"Well, you are easily the most gullible person in Underland. Aside from Nivens perhaps…" Tarrant was suddenly frozen, "You aren't angry with me?"

Alice thought quickly to scramble the correct terminology for how she felt.

"Well, you did make me bleed…" His eyes widened as he tried to assemble an explanation.

"A-Alice, I'm so-" He began to stutter frantically.

"Don't say anything, what you did was…" She couldn't make him feel worse so she smirked and leaned toward him and crawled across the bed and pressed her lips against his ear, "Perfect."

He turned back to his normal china white complexion and exhaled, "You are not very nice, you know."

"So when do I have to leave for, um, that place." She did not want to introduce the idea after this, but she had to.

Tarrant's face sunk and his eyes changed to a dull green with a few grey undertones. Alice had never paid so much attention to someone's features before. Every change in him was of the utmost importance to her.

"Whenever you are cleaned up and ready," He stood, "I don't want you to go, love"

Sadness swept over the couple. After the intimacy they had just shared Alice found it impossible to think of what she needed to do.

They got dressed in silence and walked together to the beautiful table they had tea together on one of Alice's first days back in Underland.

"I'm going to miss you so much." Tarrant was the first to speak.

"What are we going to do? What if I can't come back?" Tears flooded from Alice's eyes, she wasn't ready to say farefarren.

It was difficult for the hatter to look into his Alice's eyes and say this, "Then I will wait for you until days stop arising and Time ends. If that monster of a man does not let you go in one year, I am coming to get you."

With this she broke down, Tarrant had to hold her up as she sobbed against his colorful coat.

'_Don't let her go you madman.'_ His mind thought_, 'You will never see her again.'_

He closed his eyes and thought back, '_I'm not going to let you tell me that, she is a strong woman.'_

'_That man will do horrible things to her.'_

"I know."

Alice looked up at his blurred face through her tears, "What do you know?"

The hatter cursed at himself internally and told her it was nothing.

"We really must be going my love, I'm sorry." He muttered to the hysterical girl.

A carriage was awaiting them just beyond the gates of Marmoreal. A frog came out and explained the arrangements.

The two were allowed to stay together until they reached the Old Kingdom's estate. They would then be separated and Mirana would go back with the hatter and Alice would be captive of Stayne.

Whispers of sweet nothings and loving kisses were promises of Alice and Tarrant's love as they neared their ends. Alice's red eyes were the only reminder of what was about to happen.

The coach came to a stop.

The frog opened the door to present Alice to her new home. The castle was vast. Much larger than Marmoreal. It was also very dark. The windows were all deep red stained glass and many of them were barred shut.

Opposite to their door was a black carriage with a large wolf dragging it along. The animal snarled a nasty sound and the cab opened. Mirana was unharmed and dressed in the same clothes she had been stolen away in.

"Mirana!" Alice shouted and tried to climb toward her. Something held her back. The strong arms of her hatter.

He leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Don't go near him until Mirana is with me. This could be a trick."

The tall king of spades stepped out from his dark cab and helped Mirana out.

"So, you decided to give me your champion after all. I'm so glad we could come to an understanding." Stayne said with a snide smirk.

Tarrant tightened his grip on Alice as the dark man dragged the queen over to them.

"Now, you lunatic, the girl is mine now. I have to enlighten you before I hand over your queen." Stayne gripped onto something within a bag in his left hand.

"This is a little device I like to call my backup plan. If you ever even attempt to take the Alice from me, Mirana will die." He pushed Mirana in front of him as he pulled a doll from the bag.

He moved the doll at the waist and the white queen mimicked it. Then he twisted the doll's head and Mirana did the same.

Alice's hopes were crushed. She was never going to see anyone she loved again. Her fiancé, friends, they were all to be memories from this day forward.

Tarrant spun Alice around to look at her in detail. He wanted to remember everything; he kissed her so that Stayne would see that her heart was with another.

The black king sneered and pulled Alice away from the embrace. He pushed Mirana into the coach with the hatter and turned away, literally dragging Alice by her arms.

She twisted and tried to get away but he was too strong. All she could do was call out for one final time.

"I love you, Tarrant, wait for me!" she yelled through her tears.

She heard him faintly return her devotion as the door of the cab was slammed and all was dark.

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Thank you for sticking with me! Feedback is appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for all of your support! Let me know what you all think of this one.**

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Chapter 10

The madness took over once the queen was safely in her new room with every knight in the court.

'_Alice…Alice…Alice…' _

The destruction around him could not reflect the wreckage in his mind. Nothing made sense anymore without Alice.

'_Repetitive noises give you a headache.'_ His mind was exceedingly unkind as the days passed. It taunted him with images of his Alice under Stayne's body; receiving the monster like she had with him.

Flaming orange hair was spread everywhere in his room. He sat down and tried to make his thoughts coherent.

Alice being torn from his hands was the only thought that he could pull together. Her cries were all he could hear.

As they pulled away from that forsaken place he could hear her voice. It was breaking from the strain of her screams. He didn't want to think anymore. His head hurt from the effort.

'_You can fix it you know._' He thought, 'You_ have not tried once to save her_.'

"Mirana will die if I do."

'You're not as stupid as I think, find a way around it.'

The swirling images spared him for a few hours. Tarrant could eat for the first time in days. He even slept.

The nightmare he had was twisted. When he awoke he was drenched through his sheets in sweat. Through the fog of his dream he saw Alice. His Alice.

She was dressed in black. Her face was drawn and sickly with black bruised around her eyes, arms and thighs. Her lips were red, one half was puffed from a tear, she had been punched in the mouth. This sight broke his heart. When he reached out to touch her face she shied away. He looked at his hand. It was a black glove. He looked around and saw everything was dark.

There was a pot on the table, which lightened his mood. As he began to pour Alice some tea she pushed the cup away. When he asked what was wrong she cocked her eyebrow in the way he loved and told him, "You know I'm a coffee person."

The nightmare haunted him. The way she looked was distressing; if she was injured he would not be able to contain his insanity. He would have to kill Stayne.

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Alice looked around her cell. This was the only place she had seen in days. The trip to the castle was terrible. She tried to chase the thoughts away.

"You're mine now, Alice; you never have to think of that raving lunatic again." Stayne moved to brush a lock of hair away from her face. It stuck to her tears.

"I will never forget him." The sting of a slap turned her face. She reached up and covered the spot and glanced at the man accusingly.

He looked down at her mockingly as he pulled her by the chin to look at him, "Here is the deal. If you listen to everything I say, you will be safe and healthy. If you deny me, you will suffer."

Tears fell from her eyes; she felt the heat from her injured cheek.

"Why are you doing this?" She choked out.

"I'm not entirely sure," He gazed at her with some unknown emotion in his eyes. They arrived at his castle; Stayne had contemplated making Alice stay in his quarters. It would be too risky. She needed to learn fear before she could be given any freedom.

Alice was thrown into a small cell with barred windows. The room had been used as a dungeon before the kingdom fell.

She sensed death and pain all around her. There were dark stains on the walls and there was only a blanket on the ground.

'Bed.' She thought.

As she started to drift into unforgiving dreams there was a loud thump at the door. The clanging of keys and the loud squeal of the door. Footsteps crashed until there was a person standing next to her head.

"Alice, I have a question for you." Stayne knelt down to her level as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. He smiled, she looked beautiful. Regretting his punishment of her, he raised his hand to touch the red mark on her face.

She flinched away, "What do you want."

"What does that ring on your finger mean, I will know if you are lying so don't bother." He warned pinching her chin between his two fingers.

"It was a gift," she thought quickly, "…My mother gave it to me before I left."

He seemed to believe her, his one blue eye softened.

"I wish I could have met her. Since your ring means nothing I'm giving you one of my own." He pulled out a thick ring with a huge iridescent stone.

Continuing his speech he said, "I expect you to wear this from now on, you are marrying me at the end of this week."

The tears came again, "Why, why are you doing this…"

"Well, I want to be a king. Although I am one already, I need power. The only way for me to gain true power is to either kill Mirana, or marry you." he explained, "You piqued my interest in Iracebeth's castle. You are still a beauty, and you're still so innocent." He leaned closer to her and like opposing magnets she pushed away from him.

Another slap knocked her into one of her stone walls. Blood dribbled between her lips, she licked the drops away. Everything seemed distant, sounds were amplified. The lump on the back of her head throbbed until it was the only thing she could feel. Stayne's voice was warped. He sounded concerned when she opened her eyes in another room.

Her sight was poor; the room around her was spinning. As her concentration began to fade back in she noticed the king standing by a dark stained window. His face was solemn; he seemed to be thinking about something difficult.

"You're awake."

Alice tried to move her head in the direction of Stayne's voice. All she could manage was a wince.

"I'm sorry." Stayne loomed over her, "I should be more careful with my future bride."

Alice tried to protest but her throat only wheezed dryly.

"You won't be able to talk for a while, or move for that matter. There is a poison in your system right now. It is keeping your brain from hemorrhaging."

She could only stare at him in fear of his next move.

"Will power isn't something I was blessed with. It has taken everything in me to keep from taking what is rightfully mine. As king, I have the right to any woman I want and right now you're the only one I want." Something burned behind his eyes. It was terrifying; it wasn't like the loving insanity her Tarrant faced the night before.

"...Please" she whispered.

"Don't worry, I only have to wait a week. There is more that I want from you. You are so delicate and beautiful. Our children will be perfect." He spoke with darkness, "I need you for even more than that. The Hightopp clan has ruined me since birth. Luckily, you came with a perk. I can kill the hatter and I can take the woman he loves."

* * *

Tarrant had been alone for days. Mirana thanked him for his service and tried to help him but he could not get the image of Alice's tear stained face. He even hated the word 'stain' now.

A swirl of smoke appeared with a pair of vibrant green eyes.

"Chess."

The rest of the cat's body appeared and he rested his large head on his paws.

"Tarrant, what are you doing cooped up in here. It's a beautiful day out you should see the sights." The cat purred as he floated closer to the hatter.

"I can't go anywhere, it's too dangerous." The hatter answered monotonously. He had been staring at the same wall, seeing the same projections for days. The thoughts were drawing his sanity further and further away.

The cat sighed. There was no fighting it. Tarrant would be dangerous if he left Marmoreal.

"Do me a favor. Please see if she is alright. You can get into the castle without a problem, you're my only connection to…Alice."

Cheshire cat evaporated with a nod.

* * *

Darkness, pain.

These were only drowned away by thoughts of Tarrant. Alice gripped onto her ring and thought of their night at Mirror Lake. These memories made her strong.

Tomorrow she was expected to walk down the aisle and marry another man. A man who hurt her and told her evil lies about her love. She knew she couldn't believe him or she would lose her sanity.

The magnificent white dress stared at her from across the room. She imagined tearing it into pieces and leaving this place for good.

She laid her head down on her blanket, her make shift bed. The cold ground would not allow her to sleep. Dreams were no escape from the nightmare of her new life. They tormented her as much as reality.

When she awoke a beautiful woman stood above her with a kind smile.

"I'm helping you get ready for the big day, Your Majesty." The woman held her lovely smile. It faded once she got a good look at Alice's face.

She gasped, "He has a temper, that's why I just listen to him. At first they hurt me, but things here are not so bad once the beatings stop."

Alice tried to smile, but her lip cracked wide open and blood leaked down her chin. The woman dabbed it away with a handkerchief.

They talked about things from beyond the walls of Hell. The woman's name was Fleta. She had lived in Marmoreal her entire life before Burne framed her. He had told Mirana that she was spying for Stayne to keep the focus off of himself. She was immediately exiled to the Outlands.

"When you have a child, I'm going to be the one who births it." She explained with remorse, "You don't deserve this; you have done nothing but good for us." She was tying up the corset back of her dress.

Corsets. Just another demon to follow her here. Fleta let her alone for sometime before she had to go to the main hall for her… wedding.

She cried, and thought. Then prayed to every god she had ever heard of. Her barred window gave her little light and visually nothing. Then a swirl of a smoky haze came through her window.

The Cheshire cat looked around warily. He was not a cat that stuck his nose into other's business.

"You don't look well at all, my dear." Chess clearly stated.

Through her tears Alice smiled, "You have no idea how good it is to see you, where is Tarrant? Is he okay?"

The cat pondered for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

"The hatter is in his room and he is functioning."

Alice was not pleased, "Did he ask you to come?"

"Yes, he is very worried about you. He told me to ask if you are okay. A message back to him is not something I'm entirely against." The cat's smile spread generously across his face.

"Thank you Chess, before Stayne finds you. Tell him… I'm not okay. I am going to be married to Stayne before he gets the message but please tell him that. Also, tell him I love him and ….I haven't forgotten."

His ear twitched and he disappeared with a wave as the door to her cell swung open.

"Hello, my stunning bride. You are expected downstairs," Stayne stepped forward into her room, "Only a little bit longer dear and then forever."

He took her hand and pulled it to his face, sliding her fingers across his scars and the spot where his eye should be. Inhaling her scent, he kissed the top of her hand and stared into her eyes.

"I'll see you very soon."

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This chapter is short but rather disturbing. **

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Chapter 11

The reception was the same as every other wedding Alice had been to. Her sister of course was willing to be married while Alice would rather have died at this moment.

When she walked down to meet Stayne he looked happy. The happiest she had ever seen him look.

Their vows were stated. For Alice, tearfully so.

"I do." Her voice broke as those finalizing words rang through the decorated hall.

Stayne repeated those same words; they were now husband and wife.

"You may kiss the bride." The priest announced. The old man looked happy to have survived the meeting.

Stayne's lips were nothing to her. She went numb after she said those words and betrayed Tarrant.

As they walked back down the aisle together Stayne whispered that he loved her and that she made a beautiful queen.

She made the poor choice of trying to flee. He caught her with one very long arm.

He carried Alice into his quarters and placed her onto his bed. She stiffened as he tried to remove her dress. He did not bother to take off his suit.

Quickly he became frustrated and instead tore off her bloomers from the bottom. She watched the fabric float to the ground.

Slimy kisses left cold spots on Alice's neck. She felt his arousal through his trousers on her thigh. The impact of what was happening finally hit her; she tried to push him off of her.

The impact was harsh and it faded her thoughts momentarily. Hot liquid fell from her cheek and she stopped struggling.

Blood was nothing now, he could do no worse damage than he was inflicting at this moment. His fingers traced every inch of her body. Even her most intimate of areas.

Alice tried to remember the feelings from the week before. When she was engaged to the man she loved and gave Tarrant the only thing she could.

Ilosovic was not gentle, nor loving. He was brutal and wanting. Her husband pinned her legs down, forced them apart then shoved her dress out of his way.

He was so much bigger than her it was not physically possible for her to get him off of her.

He aligned his manhood with her susceptible opening. It touched, and then pressed through into her body. Then he noticed the difference.

"You tart!" He pushed into her fully and began an excruciating rhythm of hitting her and slamming himself into her. Landing one strong punch on the side of her face caused existence to fade out slightly.

She screamed out in pain, her body was not accustomed to the movement; he wasn't going to give her any leeway. She felt her opening tear. His raven hair was in her face, he stared at her face spitting insults.

"You were taken by that madman weren't you? You are an insult. I'll use you the way you want him to. Isn't that a thought? Don't you wish he could see you now? He would hate you."

She was just a body. Her mind had already left. Alice could not think of any other way to escape the taunts, the pain.

Guilty thoughts raced through her mind. She wondered if Tarrant really would hate her. Stayne groaned with ragged breathing and pumped his seed into her. He slammed into her one more time and pulled himself out of her with a smirk.

She didn't move. She couldn't. Her legs were in intense agony.

Her new husband got dressed, spat on her and left without a word. She heard the lock on the door turn.

He left her to her thoughts of death. She would welcome any chance to kill herself after this humiliation.

She was tired, but this bed was the only place for her to go.

Once she could finally sit up she saw blood where her head had been laying. Her golden hair was stained with red. Her lips were rough from cuts and her cheek was split open from when Stayne punched her. There were shreds of fabric everywhere in the room.

The only thing she could think to do was put her head between her knees. She was immediately repulsed by the smell of Stayne on her. There was nowhere for her to go. There was no escape. This was her prison.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry that last one was so bad. This takes place a little later. Thank you for all the lovely reviews!**

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**Chapter 12**

"My Alice, my dear, sweet, loving Alice." Stayne cooed into her ear.

In the beginning, things were worse. Alice was routinely beaten. Her skull was fractured for the time being from the bedpost.

Now things were not so terrible. Not because of some liberation, but because of a further humiliation.

Alice looked at her mirror and winced. Her normally flat stomach had a small protrusion. Every day she noticed a small change in it. She didn't tell anyone until Fleta told her that she was eating strangely.

Sighing, she listened to Ilosovic; she refused to look into his eye. It would be a further insult to her.

He was at her every whim lately. Fleta could not contain her happiness when she found out about the pregnancy. She told everyone.

Alice preferred the beatings. The feeling of Stayne's child inside her made her gag. She would love the child, and she knew this. As unfortunate as it was that Stayne would push this on her, she knew she loved children. She originally only wanted one. But, since that one would have to be his she decided that more would be in order once she got out.

She told herself every day that she would one day escape. Each day her excuses for Tarrant grew more and more pathetic. She had been there for four months.

Cheshire cat showed himself to Alice the week before and she told him about the baby. It seemed wrong to tell Tarrant, he would be incredibly hurt.

She watched as one of Stayne's disciples brought a tray of tea in for her. Her eyes were blank.

One would think she was already dead if Stayne did not go into the room once a day. Which was at night. Only lately he had actually allowed her to sleep. Since their marriage, he had not given her a break. He was very needy when it came to Alice.

"You know I love you right?" he whispered to her while she attempted to sleep.

She pulled the blankets around her further. A few weeks ago, this response would have called for being thrown out into the barn in her nightgown with the animals.

Since he now knew she was carrying his child, he was sweeter than honey bees.

Alice spent days staring at the wall, trying to see her hatter's eyes. She spent her nights remembering the horrible first night of her marriage.

She cried a lot. She did not want to bring a child into this particular world.

'_One year, he promised.'_ She thought to herself. Even to her it sounded dismal. She would never see her love's face again.

* * *

It took all of Tarrant's will to restrain himself from going to the Old Kingdom and saving his beloved. More than his own will, it took the will of five knights to hold him back.

When the Cheshire delivered the terrible news the Mad Hatter was not a far off name. The man destroyed everything. The walls of his room had traces of his own blood all throughout due to his excessive attacks at them.

It had been months since he last caught wind of Alice.

She was never far from his thoughts. The squirmy things sometimes tried to push her away but she was a tough girl and fought her way back.

Mirana was depressed. She did not leave the castle for anything. Her heart had been shattered by the man she loved.

In a way Mirana and the hatter were undergoing the same pain. They were each torn away from the one they loved.

They often discussed how they wish they could have changed the decisions that brought them to the broken place they were. But Mirana was more understanding than Tarrant.

"I told ya th' man was spineless." He never spoke without his Outlandish accent these days.

"You did, but we're past that now. It is important that we build upon what had been left behind. There is work to be done. There is no way Alice can stay there anymore." Mirana explained as she stroked one of the cherry blossom's trunks lovingly.

"Wha' do ya expect from me? Ya know I'll kill the man if I see him." He spoke softly to keep himself under control. Nearly five months without Alice. He only heard from her very seldom. When Chess took the time to help.

Life had become hell for Tarrant. He could not help thinking that this was his fault in some way. That if he had only killed Stayne on the battlefield he would not be causing so much pain. Every time Cheshire cat told him something new, another wave of madness took him over. The murderous thoughts and the dire situation his love faced were unbearable.

She was a married woman. Not by choice, but she was now the queen of spades.

As if called the cat appeared out of thin air.

"Alice wanted me to tell you some bad news." Chess began.

The hatter just turned away, "I don't want to hear it. Just make something up. Something nice, so I can keep my head."

The feline purred something he pulled from the top of his head, "Alice is happy and safe, but she is terribly lonely in that palace."

"Only a few more months Chess, then I can take her home again."

The hatter had created his own guidelines for his rescue of Alice. He discussed it with not only Mirana, but Mally and Chess. They all seemed to go along with his plan and decided it would be best to find a way to get Stayne's voodoo doll away from him. It would be too dangerous to go forward and keep their queen in so much danger.

_'Only seven more months.'_ He thought, _'You waited two years for her, seven months will fly by.'_

The months dragged on, he never again heard from his Alice.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'm sorry for all the sad stuff! I'm trying to pump them out to get back to the happy. Thank you to everyone reading, I really appreciate your reviews.**

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Chapter 13

Each day Alice looked in the mirror and saw terrible changes in her body. She was sick, terribly sick. She could not leave bed. Stayne locked her in his chambers now, it was better than her cell. Living here was making her ill.

The swollen belly and the sickness were part of her punishment. Stayne's child grew inside of her and it made her welcome death.

Her husband was kinder to her since the changes appeared. He did not hit her, but he did continue to use her body daily.

Sound was warped by the bucket that engulfed her head every morning. She only ate specific foods and Stayne was willing to bring her anything.

She craved tea with a lot of sugar as well as peanut butter. The king tried to portray the couple as loving. On his side, yes he loved her. As for Alice, there was only one man for her.

Nearly crazed, she would talk to herself about Tarrant. She reminded herself of happy days and sunshine. Fleta told her that if a woman is sad while she is pregnant the baby has a high chance of complication.

Lately all she could think about to make her happy were images of her time in Underland. When she and her friends traveled everywhere.

Sometimes thoughts from her adventures in China reached their hand into her mind. She would shake them away and continue with thoughts of Tarrant.

She would sometimes try to convince herself that the baby was his. Sadly, she knew this to be impossible.

She found herself playing games with herself. Pretending that Stayne's body was Tarrant's. Sometimes she played along, but most often she caught herself and broke down crying afterwards.

She had betrayed the one she loved and did not deserve him. She deserved this treatment.

On good days Burne would talk to her. He asked if Mirana would ever forgive him and how his brother was mad.

"Alice, he loves you. It is terrible I know, but this is the only way he could ever have you." The blonde man explained.

"Well this is a great way to show it." Alice's voice was laced with sarcasm.

Alice had to admit that she could see how Mirana fell so desperately in love with the man. He was charming and very handsome.

He continued with a fake laugh, "Do you know how my brother received that scar?"

She had contemplated it before, but nothing of the man held much of her attention.

"The Hightopp clan has been enemies of our family for generations you know. When Ilosovic and I were young we were told that we could only regain power through the extinction of them." He explained, "Well, Ilosovic and I were young, and of course very stupid. We commanded an attack on them. They fought back without a thought. They always seemed peaceful, but Tarrant. Even as a young man he was a little mad. He took on my brother while I fought his. I killed him, but my kin was not so lucky. Tarrant's sword has tasted blood many times. He would have killed Ilosovic if my father and I hadn't intervened."

Alice furrowed her brow in concentration, "Go on."

Burne smiled, "He lost his eye and if you've ever gotten close look at his chest, he has many other scars."

His sister in law was uninterested in Stayne's injuries she wanted to hear more about Tarrant, "What else happened?"

"I changed a lot. My brother could not hide the marks on his face, so I played the part. I was told that if spades were to be considered a royal family again I needed to marry either Iracebeth or… Mirana..." his voice drifted, "We settled that he would go after the crazed sister while I'd take the other."

"Why did you decide to hurt her so badly?" Alice tried to keep the conversation going.

"I feel strongly toward her, but my family name is meant for royalty. When Stayne told me to leave that note I was confused. The initial plan was for me to 'rescue' Mirana and marry her when we got back to Marmoreal. I wanted to marry her; she is so… good and true. She is a wonderful woman." He was saddened. He deserved it. Alice would not be in this situation if not for his actions.

Alice hated them; she never wished any kind of violence upon anyone before. They could both rot for all she cared.

"How much longer until I'm an uncle?" Burne was attempting to be kind, "Did you think of any names?"

"Well, I think she's a girl. I was thinking of names that start with the letter M." she answered with a smirk.

"I think Ilosovic should have some say in what the name is don't you think?"

She felt so hopeless, one of the only things she had control over they were trying to take away. Stayne was a monster. Her baby would live better than this, no matter his heritage.

There was a drenching of water and a heave. There was pain and tensing muscles.

"Oh my God. Burne I need Fleta. Get her now." Her water broke, the contractions were painful.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

She rushed in and made her drink a vibrant blue liquid. Alice didn't care what she was taking; anything that would make this pain go away was enough for her.

Stayne decided to make an appearance and burst through the door.

Fleta barked out orders. Instantly she had warm towels and hot water.

"It's going to be okay." Ilosovic seemed to be trying to convince himself.

The pain dulled, it started fading near her toes first then it traveled up her legs until she no longer felt the pain of her birth canal. All she could see below her was blood.

She was looking up at the ceiling; she could not make herself look down. She would definitely lose her stomach.

"Oh wow!" Fleta smiled as she cut the umbilical cord.

"What happened? Is everything alright?" The father asked, he was genuinely concerned for the life of another. How nice.

Fleta ignored him and cleaned the birthing fluid and blood from Alice's baby. It was a boy.

He had no hair and he was covered in blood. He was the most beautiful thing Alice had ever seen in her life.

The baby didn't open his eyes, but he cried with a gurgling noise. He seemed weak.

"Give him to me." Alice reached out for him; her heart seemed to extend all the way to the little boy's body.

The nurse gave him to his mother and he stopped crying so much.

"Shh, baby it's alright. You're safe with your mama." She looked down at him. She could see her own round face and defined lips on him. She did not try to find the similarities between him and his father but she could see them.

"What is his name?" Fleta asked with a motherly sigh.

For a boy, she had not thought about it twice. Alice assumed that was a duty Stayne would have taken.

She looked at her husband, avoiding his eyes, and asked him what he thought.

Before he could add his input, Alice took advantage of his silence.

"His name is Tyler." She had heard the name in the above land, "My mother said that is what she would have named my brother."

"That's a good name." Stayne stated and he took Tyler from Alice's arms. They felt empty without him. As if her heart would stop beating.

He was rocking and talking to their infant.

"Ilosovic, can I please have him?" she pleaded with the terrible man.

He ignored her and continued looking at their baby who was still tender and hot from birth.

Alice then noticed how undeniably tired she was. The exertion from the birth was unbelievable. She was asleep before she knew it.

When she awoke her baby was not with her. She immediately panicked and tried to get up. She couldn't, her muscles felt like they had all been torn away. Her innards felt as if nothing was keeping them inside.

Fleta was in her doorway in the next instant, "Are you in pain?"

"Yes, where is my baby?" She demanded.

"He won't open his eyes, we think he may be blind, he is being tested as we speak." She answered as she concocted an elixir.

"Why do you think that? He is probably just shy." Alice insisted as she took the medicine.

"What a strange thing to say. I'm sure he was just a touch premature so he's still developing a little." She gave her own take on the situation.

"I don't care, I want him with me. Please get him for me Fleta, I need him." Alice was already in shambles, she did not need her only sanity taken away.

Tyler was more beautiful than she remembered. He was perfect. She loved him with more than she thought her body had in it.

Instantly she knew she could not allow Stayne to be near him. She needed to save her baby from this place.

As if he had been called, Chess was at her side purring to her.

"What is the tyke's name?" he whispered.

Alice smiled a real smile for the first time in months, "Tyler, isn't he just the best thing?"

She looked down at him to see his eyes stirring behind tight lids. If he was blind he would not be safe in this world. Stayne would not have a blind heir.

"Should I tell, him, about the baby?" Chess asked while he plucked at his nails.

Alice thought hard for a moment, "I want him to come here. Tell him to get me out of here now."

* * *

The Cheshire cat was not one for getting involved. He loved the thrill, but hated being there when things went bad.

He told Tarrant about Alice's wish. The orange haired man only stared at him as if waiting for more.

"Tarrant, it may be the right time to get her. She really is miserable." The cat explained; he tried to keep the information to a minimum so his friend would not have an episode.

"Mirana needs us to wait. One year. One year. One year. One yea-"

"Hatter!" A little voice yelled.

Mallyumkins climbed onto his shoulder and stuck him with her pin sword, "You sound like a broken record!"

The hatter attempted a smile but it looked like a grimace. He needed to get Alice back. After all of the disgusting rumors he had heard about her.

He heard two maids in Marmoreal talking about the spade's heir. Which was not possible since he heard directly from Alice every couple of months.

Sighing, he petted Mally on the head.

"Hatter, we need to decide what we are going to do," The little mouse said, "Alice isn't going to rescue herself you know."

She climbed onto his hat and Chess swatted at her, "The decision is yours so make one."

The hatter thought for a minute, he thought hard because his thoughts were not making sense.

'_You should send Chess to find a way into the fortress before anything.'_ He thought.

'_I could do that, or I could do it myself.'_ He answered_, 'but what if there is no way in besides the front?'_

'_Then you have a dormouse on your side.'_

"Chess, you need to go and see if there is any way into the castle aside from the front. Even a tiny hole would be good enough."

The cat faded away in a misty puff.

Tarrant told Mally that they were going for a walk together. No one could know about this walk.

They were going to visit Stayne and his beautiful wife.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you to everyone! I'm sick so I've been writing all day. So onward!**

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Chapter 15

Ilosovic Stayne. The king of spades and former knave of crims was powerless. He fought the feeling for such a long time. He fell so far as to hurt the one thing he loved.

No, not one thing. There was now another now, he loved his son.

The dark man brooded in his chambers. His Alice was still being cared for in the infirmary.

So he was now alone, he could not even spend time with his child. The nurses feared that he would hurt him.

His son was not opening his eyes to see the hellish world he was born into.

Stayne was not always a monster. He was desperate for the woman he wanted and now he demanded the love of his son.

'_Tyler, Alice picked a good name. It makes her happy.'_ He thought to himself.

He then he shook his head in disgust, _'I knew this would happen. She controls you.'_

He paced the room, thinking.

'_You cannot let her control you. That first night with her you knew she could never love you. It will never happen. You have forced her into awful circumstances. Even making her carry your child. She will never love you the way she loves that hatter."_

There was a shattering of glass. He did not think things through sometimes, he punched a hole through one of his favorite pictures.

The picture was painted the day he married Alice. She was dressed in her beautiful white and carried blue flowers. He never looked at himself in the picture, only his beautiful wife. She was not smiling.

It broke his heart to see her hurting but it was worse when she was happy. The only time she was happy was when she thought about…him.

Now she was only happy when she was with their baby. Which was not as bad but he did not want her to grow too attached to it.

Fleta told him that Tyler's chance of survival was low because of his premature birth. He was glad to have that woman around; she was Marmoreal's best doctor at one time or another.

There was a light rapping at the door.

"Come in."

It was Alice. She was holding her lower body tightly and walked in with very small steps. He had never seen her more fragile.

Although she said not one word to him, it seemed like she was calling out for help. He walked over and put his arm around her to help keep the weight off of her body.

Her body had more of a shape to it now that the baby was out. The hips seemed wider and she had more weight on her.

He led her to their bed and helped her swing her legs on. It was pitiful the way she looked at him. It was such an accusatory look.

'_She hates you'_ he thought, 'she _wishes that you would die. You would deserve it.'_

A guilty conscience was not something Ilosovic usually had. But his repetitive abuse of the woman he claimed to love was beginning to wear. If he had let her live a life with the hatter she would have been happy, she would never have faced this cursed life.

That would never happen though. He may feel guilty, but jealousy and selfishness were traits that he would not deny. That lunatic already took enough of his queen.

"Where is Tyler?" he asked Alice gently.

She tried to roll away from him, but her strained muscles would not allow her. Instead she sighed a delicate, lovely sigh and answered him.

"My baby is with Fleta. The nursery is almost finished. I did not like the dark colors so I told the painters to change them." Her voice was so charming.

"Oh, I thought you liked blue."

"The blue was too dark," She reached her hand over the blankets she surrounded herself in, "I asked for light colors."

He hated that ring on her finger. It was from her mother, she told him. Stayne knew it was a lie, but he made himself believe her story. More than anything, he wanted to pull it off and destroy it. He despised anything that could remind her of her former life with that other man.

"You look ill, is there anything I can do?" Stayne offered.

"You could let me go home." She whispered, hoping he would not hear her.

He stood up abruptly and left the room, locking the door as he always did.

Alice was left to her own reflections. She loved her son, almost unbearably. But his father was such a horrid person; she wanted to go back to Tarrant. He would be a wonderful father, better than anyone in the world. He would be the kind of man that stayed home and played with his children when he should be working. Tarrant was a loving individual, his child would never for a moment think they were unloved.

Tyler on the other hand was doomed to a life of servitude. His mother would most likely die at a young age and he would be raised by an insane man who could never love anything. She needed to get out of here.

Once her baby was back in her arms she felt hope. Fleta brought him in and locked the door as she left.

"You are my little angel, you know." She spoke to him.

She saw a flutter behind his eyelids; she wished he would keep them closed until they were out of that place. She noticed now that his hair was light blonde like her. He looked so much like her, she loved it. She would hate to look at Ilosovic's face each time she held her son.

Another movement behind his eyelids worried her, "Not now Tyler, wait for a little while longer, a month? Is that too long?"

Stayne burst through the door and the infant started crying weakly. His father gave Alice a worried look. He was concerned about doing anything wrong.

"I was looking for him, when I went to find him he wasn't with Fleta." He tried to explain, but Alice glared at him until he stopped talking. She was talking to the baby quietly and she kissed him on the forehead. His crying diminished and he fell into a deep, wriggling, sleep.

Tyler's parents argued very quietly about behavior around him.

"You have to be quiet! Babies automatically sleep when they are over stimulated."

"I need to know where my child is, whether he is with you, me or Fleta. It is important that I am aware." As Stayne stated his case, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A swirl of smoke. He ran to his now barred windows and looked out. There was nothing there.

He panicked slightly, what if that was the Cheshire cat?

Stayne left the room, locking the door. He told his guard to be at full attention, there was an animal with evaporating skills in his castle.

* * *

As the indigo cat floated around he noticed some very disturbing sights. Alice weak, some might say she looked like death, in the ward. There were ugly creatures everywhere. A shark walking on its tail seemed to sense him for a moment so he completely disappeared.

There were nearly no openings into the castle without his ability. He found a crack in a wall near Burne's room, but that was it. They had to forget the main entrance, it was well guarded. It was also located just below Stayne and Alice's dwelling.

Chess swished past their window and saw the king and queen arguing like children. He tried not to look but he had to. He opened his eyes and watched them quarrel, and then Stayne looked right at him. He faded quickly into nothing then reappeared with Tarrant and Mally.

"There is one opening that Mally could fit through." He reported.

Tarrant stared ahead; they were still about a day away from the castle. The sun was setting and he saw no reason in the world to stop walking.

"So what's the plan?" Mally asked.

"You are going in and finding the puppet. You will then find the shortest distance between the main door and Alice's cell." Tarrant explained darkly. He was too focused on the road ahead to look at her.

"After that what do we do?" the mouse looked down at him from the brim of his hat.

"I have to find a way to Alice."

"We know that, but how if there is now way in for you?" She urged.

He thought for a minute, "I'll have to see when we get there."

Mally was worried he would do something stupid, she did not want to leave him alone when they got to the castle.

They walked through the night; Chess would appear and disappear every few hours to check on Alice.

At one point he came back with a ghastly look to him. He said nothing, he only shook his head.

Tarrant ran, if there was a way for him to teleport there he would.

* * *

Alice cried, Stayne took the baby and brought him away. He wanted intimate time with her. She could barely close her legs as it was she did not need more strain.

When he came back into the room he had a wicked grin. She closed her eyes and let him do what he wanted.

It hurt so much she screamed a couple of times, she let her body take the abuse as her mind left. It was miles away in Marmoreal drinking tea with her love.

* * *

Tarrant heard screams reverberating from the enormous building. It was Alice.

The first thing he noticed of the castle was the long hangman's rope in the front. There was a fresh body hanging. If he could get up maybe two feet he could grab the body's leg and climb up.

Either end of where the bridge of the building should have been were broken down sidings. He pulled one of the large blocks under the body.

"Mally go with Chess, I need to see something."

The mouse refused to go. The hatter did not care anymore. He grappled the corpse and began to climb.

As he reached the top of the rope, there was a barred up window. Tarrant heard sobbing, painful sounds that made him scratch into the wooden stage at the top. He peaked through the window to see his Alice.

Not his Alice, Stayne's. She was crying hard. Her face was in between her knees, the sound wrenched at his heart.

Then he noticed something that turned his stomach, he was about to put his arm through the window but a stab through his hand stopped him.

Stayne was getting dressed. The hatter put the thought together in his mind. It was like a disgusting puzzle.

Mally whispered harshly into Tarrant's ear telling him to let go of the window before Stayne could see. When he could not obey Mally pulled back his pinky finger until they dropped thirty feet into water.

He did not struggle to get out of the bath of death. It smelled but that could not have bothered his right now. His lovely Alice. Beautiful perfect muchful Alice. That monster needed to die.

Mally told him he needed to get up, she called him mean names. He could not find the will to move.

"Hatter, how are we going to get her out of there?" Mally yelled at him.

They heard footsteps and Chess helped Tarrant out of the water. Tarrant did not want to leave yet, he wanted to save her right now. She could not stay in this place.

They coaxed him into talking to Mirana again before taking her life into their hands. Defeated, Tarrant walked along with his head down. If there was away to erase that memory forever he would. That was the only memory that came to him. It came every time he closed his eyes.

A few times he tried to run back but his two friends would pull him back to sanity.

* * *

"Your Majesty, would you like to nurse Tyler?" Fleta asked. She knew her queen was hurting, she saw it in her eyes.

Alice nodded with tears in her eyes. Her nurse brought the baby and left her alone. She cried to him and told him that one day they would be free.

'Empty promises,' she told herself, 'empty promises…'

She looked down at his perfect face and saw something that made her heart stop.

His eyes were open.

Alice could have died right then and she would be alright with it.

Vibrant green eyes with a touch of pale blue looked up at her. She could have stared at them for an eternity.

_'You are __Tarrant's baby, Tyler, you really are the best thing._' She mused, but her happiness was short lived as she heard the rattle of keys outside of her door.

She did the only thing that made sense and nursed him. Tyler closed his eyes and Alice could breathe again.

"There you are," Stayne announced, "I heard noise outside before. Some of my guards say they saw someone with orange hair running from the castle."

Alice's eyes widened, Tarrant was here.

"I doubt it," she attempted to lie, "Tarrant Hightopp is watched by the white queen, he would not be able to leave Marmoreal."

Stayne's eyes became creases as he stared down at her, "That man could get anywhere if he wanted, you know that better than I do."

Alice stroked the back of her small baby's head and urged him to continue suckling. So long as Stayne was here Tyler was in danger.

The baby tried to pull away from her but she fastened him to her body. He quickly fell asleep, as infants do.

"I've decided that security should be increased around the castle." Stayne muttered to his wife, he looked down at his son suspiciously. Alice was not a very good liar.

"What's wrong?" She asked innocently as she looked down at Tyler.

"Why do you wear that ring, Alice?" He asked plainly.

"My mother gave it to me." She remembered her lie.

"No, she didn't. I've seen the way you look at it. If you care for your mother like that then you are deranged." Suddenly fierce, he grabbed her hand.

She didn't know what to say. He took it off of her finger and examined it.

He was talking, she was not sure if it was to himself or to her.

"It is too intricate to have been made for just any occasion. There are some things that you can't hide from me, Alice…" His look softened.

There was a barrier of silence; the only interruption was Tyler crying slightly. Alice calmed him and he rested his face on her arm.

"Alice, why do you still want him more than me?" Stayne finally said.

"I love him, I always will. You have been nothing but cruel to me why would I want you?" she was finally able to say it out loud.

Stayne sat on the bed next to her, "You had our child, I give you a place to live and a bed to sleep on. Why would you need more?"

"Because there is more to life than the basics." She whispered.

"I'm not letting you keep this," He held out Tarrant's ring, "You are never going back to him."

Then the moment came. The baby opened his eyes and reached out to grab Stayne's hand. She watched as Stayne's face went from caring to disturbed.

Alice closed her eyes and pulled Tyler close.

The bed was shaking then the next thing Alice knew Tyler was no longer in her arms. She grabbed at the air hoping he had just rolled off of her. She heard her baby crying weakly and the sound of a blade being drawn as the door of her room slammed against the dead bolt.

A woman's scream was next.

As a mother, Alice tried to get out of bed so she could save her baby. Her body felt like it was in pieces as she crawled to the door, it was open a crack.

What she saw would ruin the rest of her life.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Piekna Katastrofa; Beautiful Disaster. Thank you for sticking with me today, I had to leave to get that phrase as a tattoo.**

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Chapter 16

Fleta was holding onto Alice's child.

Alice could barely see them. She could barely take hold on reality.

When Stayne found out about Tyler's eyes they were removed, Alice was a bleeding mess on the floor of the hallway. Beating her wasn't enough, Stayne made her watch him slice her child's eyes away.

The blood was enough to make her sick. Fleta was kind enough to take the baby when Stayne dropped him next to his mother. There was a bloody line dragging from the corner of his right eye to the corner of his left.

Alice could not move, her bones were broken and her mind was gone. This place stole her thoughts and ate them for nourishment.

Her face felt huge from the bruises that were already beginning to form. Her lips were cracked and there were open slices everywhere on her body.

She felt her body lift off of the ground. Someone was carrying her.

A dribble of liquid fell through her lips and she felt her bones cracking back into place. Fleta and Burne stood over her.

Hate filled her heart when she looked at Burne. He was in the likeness of his brother and therefore an enemy of her. He looked down at Tyler and gave him a smile. The baby had not been able to make a sound since he was damaged.

Fleta pressed some powder onto Tyler's eyes and the wound across his face. This was pain no one could understand. His mother could not do anything to help, she was too badly hurt. She could not cry or yell. She was nothing. Just as Stayne had always told her, she was worthless.

She could only think. She was a body with no way of communication.

As the days passed, Tyler grew. Not much but enough for Alice to notice. His hair grew and his pale eyes grew cloudy. The scar that formed over his face was the only reminder of what had taken place.

Stayne continued to pretend that Tyler was his child. Her ring was thrown into the lake of bodies around the kingdom.

Alice noticed the change again. Her body was changing, she was having another child. Tyler was two months old now. She could barely handle the stress of having one child, having another might actually kill her.

Fleta told her that she thought she might have gotten pregnant again and Alice could only sigh, there was nothing else for her to do.

* * *

"It has been a year, Time might not like me but he's not cruel." There was a shine of green in the hatter's eye this morning.

Mally smiled at him, she was not hugely fond of Alice at first. But the effect she had on Tarrant made her irresistible in her eyes.

They planned every aspect out. They knew how to get in; they watched how Stayne's troops left the last time they visited.

Tarrant felt good about today. The thoughts that were eating at his mind had settled and he could think only of protecting his dear Alice.

The Cheshire cat had done enough already and felt that he had nothing to gain from joining their party.

One year, it was winter once more but the weather in Underland never seemed to change. Alice would be safe again no matter what the risk. Tarrant wanted to leave all day but Mally told him they needed to wait until night. They would be safer then and Alice would have a chance to escape without being hunted down.

'Alice... Alice... Alice...' He could think of nothing else. These past months were very trying for him. He pulled his madness back when he was informed of Stayne marrying the girl he loved.

It took the thought a long time to sink in. That Alice was married. He was scared to find that she was no longer interested in himself. He shook the thought out of his head.

They left for the Old Kingdom in the late afternoon on horseback. The mare that traveled with them was especially fond of Alice. She and her foal were free from the red queen because of her.

The fortress was huge, Tarrant felt a change come over him the moment he saw the building over the horizon. Stayne would not live to see another day after everything he had done.

The weight of what was about to happen did not seem to affect him as much as it had Chess. The cat explained to him that he could not bear to see another thing that goes on within those walls. The hatter wondered what he saw that frightened him so much. They had faced the bloody big head together, through that they must have seen more vile torment than anyone else could possibly stand.

Tarrant sent Mally in through the tiny hole Chess had found on his last appearance. Tarrant made for the hangman's rope. The mare let him stand on her back so he could make the climb.

Alice was in the room with a blood stained blanket in her arms. Tarrant tapped on the metal between them to get her attention. Her reaction saddened him, she flinched away and hid the blanket under her arm.

'What is she doing? Its only a blanket.' He thought as he tapped a little louder.

She turned in his direction and caught his eye. Almost dropping what she had in her hand walked quietly toward him. Alice looked at him with dark purple stains blotted across her face. Her lips burst open with cuts. She had a light scar on her cheek. The hatter reached through the bars and caressed her face.

"What has he done…" he started to say when Alice directed his attention to the blanket she was clinging onto. The blanket she held contained not only cotton but a little person. The child stared up at him with cloudy blue eyes. The scar across its face only further reminded Tarrant that its father was a monster.

He groaned with displeasure and his face became distorted.

Alice placed a hand on his cheek and tried to explain, "Love, listen to me. He isn't-"

There was a jingle of keys outside and the door cracked open.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sick again, watching V for Vendetta gave me some good inspiration. Please give me feedback, I like to know if I make mistakes. Also, let me know if something does not make sense to you because I'll clear it up for you. Onward!**

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**Chapter 17**

Alice watched Tarrant's eyes change from emerald green to a dark orange in seconds. He looked disgustedly at their baby. Of course Alice knew he was unaware that he was a father so she reached out and held his face to calm him.

"Love, listen to me. He isn't-" She was cut off by the sound of keys and the rattle of a doorknob.

She turned to see the door slightly ajar, when she looked back through the window her mad hatter was gone. It was for the better if he was not around to see her latest abuse. Stayne was standing in the doorway peeking in at her. Seemingly uninterested in her location in the room, he strutted in and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Fleta told me the good news. I cannot wait to be a father again." His breath tickled her ear in a repulsive manner.

"Could we please talk about this another time? There is a lot on my mind that I do not care to share with you." Alice's muchness was far from gone; she was leaving here today one way or another.

"As my wife you could share anything with me. My Alice…" he kissed her neck, "There is something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

Her face felt cold but she managed to fake a smile, "No I'm actually just thinking about a few things I left behind at Witzend."

Ilosovic was taken back; she did not seem to be lying this time. His wife was very readable; she could not keep things from him very easily. Like her child's origin, he loved him unconditionally even though they were not related. After the night he took out Tyler's eyes he regretted the decision. Stayne was not patient, nor did he think things through before going through with them. The choice to remove the only reminder that the baby was unrelated to him was poor. At least now he could hold him without becoming obscenely jealous.

"What did you forget?" He was cautious, she seemed different today. Unbroken would be a good description of her behavior. This was the Alice he always wanted, but he could never have. Maybe she had finally come to the realization that she was his forever.

"Well, about a year ago, when I returned to Underland I had some luggage that I lost. I asked the March Hare to keep an eye out for it, but you know those mad folk. I doubt he has even thought of it since I left." His beautiful wife explained as she stroked Tyler's face gently with the back of her index finger.

She could not be lying, "I'll have it found immediately."

He was frozen by a hauntingly marvelous smile. The raven haired king never noticed how stunning she looked when she smiled. Probably because they were few and far between. He smiled back and kissed her neck again. With high spirits, Stayne left the room, locking the door behind him.

As soon as the lock turned, Alice's face was pressed against the bars of the window.

"Hatter? Tarrant? Are you still out there?"She spoke into the darkness, a cool breeze blew in and she covered Tyler more tightly.

The drawbridge was coming down for what seemed like the first time in ages. A large squad of knights marched out and she heard her husband telling them to find Alice's Aboveland items. As Stayne strode back in through the fortress walls she witnessed something wonderful. A tuft of orange hair and a tall hat slipping through just as the bridge was being pulled back up.

She hoped dearly that the troops would leave Thackery alone. The poor hare had enough on his mind. Tea, scones… more tea.

Alice genuinely smiled; she could feel a cheer in the air for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Tyler and she were getting out of there and she could finally be free of the misery that took over her life here.

* * *

_'Silly, galumphing Alice.' _Mally thought as she sorted through Stayne's things, _'This is all such a mess._'

She picked the king's dresser lock and was now shifting through all of his belongings.

Mally's paw caught something. It was the puppet, an ugly thing, looked nothing like Mirana. She sighed; it was much bigger than her. This was going to be quite a task.

There were voices outside of the study door, it sounded like two people arguing. Stayne and some other voice she did not recognize.

"You say you saw the hatter and you did not kill him?"Stayne yelled

"I did not see him; others claimed to see vibrant colors. Others have found unconscious soldiers from the front gate. We have reason to suspect that there is an intruder amongst us." The other explained.

Mally groaned and thought, _'Hatter, what are you doin'? You're goin' to get killed.'_

She then heard the door squeak open. Stayne walked past muttering something about Alice and complications. The man walked out after picking something off of a shelf and closed the door. Mally let out a breath and began dragging the doll to a safe hiding place.

* * *

Nothing was in that hatter's mind at this point. After all he witnessed on his Alice's face she could be so humane to that man. The bruises and the child were enough but how could she behave as if nothing was wrong.

When the door to the king and queen's room opened, Tarrant dropped down just below the window in the shadow so he would not be seen. It took so much not to go barreling through those bars when he heard that man kissing her. Then he saw his opening, there was a sound of bending wood boards and a moan from chains bearing the weight. He let go of the sill and dropped into the water below.

Tarrant was Stayne's shadow as he followed him through the last slice of light from within. The bridge closed and Tarrant caught a glimpse of his surroundings.

There were tall marble pillars with onyx lines through them. The floor had a long carpet leading from the door. It had intricate patterns of different kinds of spade designs. Above Stayne and… the queen's throne there was an ornate stained glass window which depicted two beautifully interlocked spades and many other small ones around the frame. Stayne was obviously very concerned with himself.

He walked down a corridor as quietly as he could. He heard clanging footsteps and hid himself behind a pillar.

They were two of Stayne's knights. As they passed, the green eyed mad man ran the length of the hall.

_'Where are the stairs?'_ he thought to himself, he'd been here before. When he was young the kings of all suits ruled together in this castle. That is until Mirana and Iracebeth's father shone light on the torturous treatment (two wonderful T words) of the Spade king's court.

There was a war; Mirana was taken by the queen of hearts to safety just before the fighting began. Iracebeth was told to stay by her father's side to see how ugly death could be so she would not rule like the others when the time came. She saw the power the Spade king held and wanted that kind of absolute power. This is what caused her to become so cruel.

On the other hand, Stayne and Burne. The Spade king's sons fought in their father's name. The other suits, Clubs and Diamonds believed that the kings should rule their own the way they wanted. They thought the king of Hearts was out of line in his opinion of the Spade.

Tarrant was with his father and brother when they fought. His brother was killed by the prince of spades and therefore saw it fit to do the same to him. He nearly killed Stayne that day and ever since he regretted his weakness. He never liked to kill anything. Especially defenseless things like Stayne had been, bleeding in the rain while there was so much death around them. Burne dragged his heavily wounded brother away and Tarrant stood in the same place poised in the same way. He hated himself at that moment for acting on his conscience rather than his king's wishes. At the age of fifteen, it is hard to understand what side to take. Your decision or everyone else's.

Hearts fought until there were only a few spade warriors left. The last of the royalty were the king, Stayne and Burne. There were a few scattered courtiers but very few.

The king of Hearts removed the Spade king's title and exiled him. The sons were so young that the Hearts took pity. He told them that if they could live in peace they could live in Underland without facing the same fate as their father. They took the offer and waited. Their titles were never taken from them which made them the only Spade royalty left.

Remembering that fateful time when he allowed Stayne to breath for another day angered him. Years later Stayne took everything from him. He killed his family, friends, and burned them to death. The thought made him shiver. He was finding it hard to navigate through the castle. Nothing was the same as before.

Then, of course, Stayne faced him on the battlefield when Alice fought the Jabberwocky. It did not even seem that they were fighting for their queens, they were fighting for Alice. Stayne was on the ground, in the same position as so many years before. That is until happiness ripped through him at the sound of Alice's "Off with your head!". He allowed the man to live, and then again he tried to take his world away.

Tarrant found a long series of circular stairs and began to creep up them. Alice would be at the top of these stairs and he could kiss her and hug her and love her as he always had. He pushed the image of her damaged face away, her puckering belly and the infant.

What made him most angry was that Alice's first child, could not be his. He dreamed about Alice and he living in a house together. Madness all over between them, and a little green eyed boy. He would have loved that, a healthy happy Alice the mother of his baby. That could not happen now. It would have to be kept a dream and Alice would be a broken sad Alice for years after this ordeal.

Hopefully Time would be kind to her, she had never bothered it.

At the top of the stairs was only one door, the door to another dimension. Where his Alice was kept like a cagebird's prey. He pulled and pulled at the door, it would not move. He could hear stirring from the other side.

"You can't have her back, Hatter." The slimy bastard was a few stairs below him.

* * *

"Tarrant Hightopp is in the castle sir, we have no idea how he got past the guards." A lizard with sharp eyes told Stayne.

Stayne did not hear the rest; he was already running back to his chambers. That madman could not take Alice, not today. He had finally broken through to her today, she seemed almost happy to be in that room with him.

He rushed the stairs, jumping several at a time with each bound. As he neared his room there was loud banging and low cussing. Stayne could recognize that insane muttering anywhere.

The madness was taking over, the sight of that scar and the thoughts that buzzed through Tarrant's head were driving all sanity away.

"Are you too stupid to answer when spoken to, hatter? Why would Alice want you, a hatter, when she is married to a king?" the taunts were enough, but Tarrant needed to know something important before he could take Stayne's life. There was something, but it escaped him now. Then Mally appeared in the corner of his eye.

"Where is the key." It did not come out as a question, more of a demand.

"Ah, the key, I destroyed the one I had when I heard you were here. Now the only way in would be to kill the white queen, as I promised." Stayne explained with a smirk.

Tarrant froze momentarily, how was he supposed to get the key if it was in the puppet? He and Mally exchanged knowing looks and she leaped past the two men.

"You know, hatter, Alice is such a good wife. She is wonderful with our son." Stayne continued, Tarrant could not unlock his muscles until Mally came back or he would make a terrible mistake. Moments passed in silence.

"If that doesn't hurt then I'll tell you about the first night we were married. When I found out that she had given you her maidenhead. She screamed so loudly I thought about hitting her hard enough that she'd black out. But I decided she needed to feel her punishment for being a disgusting, slavish adulterer." Stayne could see the effect his words were having. He even hated himself for saying them; he loved Alice and did not like to think of her as adulterous.

These words cut deeply into Tarrant, that night with Alice was the best night of his life. She was wearing his ring and she gave her undeniable love to him. Stayne was trying to tarnish his thoughts of her. Without thinking, Tarrant drew his sword and lunged at Stayne's head.

He ducked the blow and unsheathed his own, wagging his finger at him. They danced around each other, watching each movement to find an opening.

Stayne continued stealing Tarrant's mind with horrible imagery.

"You could not imagine the feeling of pride when I found out that she was having my child. After all those nights in bed with her-" Stayne narrowly avoided Tarrant's blade.

"Stop talking." Tarrant warned in his dark gravely brogue. His eyes were like a flame, some oranges, reds and yellows flecked through them. The areas around his eyes were black and brown and his skin was abnormally pale. He had reached the summit of control, one more thing and he would no longer be able to prevent himself from killing Stayne.

"Well since we're here, hatter. I should tell you, your family's screams were nothing in comparison to Alice's when I took out our son's eyes." There was more malice and smugness in his voice than Tarrant could take.

The next thing the hatter knew there was a hilt near his chin and there was blood pooling around his hand. His sword was buried deep in Stayne's gut and blood was burbling from his mouth.

He tried to turn his head, but the metal in his shoulder would not allow him to move.

"Hatter!" Mally was dragging a doll more than twice her size up the stairs. She looked worried and Tarrant could not even think of why. Stayne's twitching body was nothing to worry about.

He felt the metal being pulled from his shoulder and looked down at the monster that had ruined so much of his life. Then he grabbed the hilt of the weapon and held it still, Stayne was too weak from shock to continue pulling it out.

He saw the life draining from Stayne's face and felt somewhat satisfied, he would have liked to hurt him more before killing him. Mally tugged at the sword until it clatteredto the ground. She was on his shoulder and pulled out some of the hatter's string and used her sword to sew his shoulder back onto his body temporarily.

The Cheshire cat floated around the wounded pair and smiled widely, "May I ask if I could be of some assistance?"

Mally told him to take the key out of the doll and bring it to the hatter. Chess reached into the doll and made the key evaporate so he could remove it safely from the queen's voodoo doll.

The key was encrusted with blood from Tarrant's hand as he pressed it into the lock. It would not turn, he looked down at Stayne who was laughing to himself, blood spattered about his open wound.

"How do I get in there?" Tarrant panicked, if this key didn't work what did? He grabbed the front of Stayne's bloody tunic and pulled him up.

"Where is the key to this door." He growled into the king's face, who continued to laugh in rolling, psychotic chuckles.

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Thank you for your continuing support!


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Blood was making its way down the stairs as Stayne laughed. If he could not have Alice no one could. His consciousness was slipping and the hatter was shaking him in frustration. All he could do was laugh. Laugh until his insides were sore. Laugh with indignation and spite for the one who ruined his life.

He felt the air in his throat dissipate until there was no more. The pain in his chest was excruciating, he welcomed the darkness that now surrounded him. Peace would come soon and he could finally rest.

But the feeling never came. The only feeling he could discern was the pumping of his chest and the painful forced breathing. He could not open his eyes but someone's mouth was on his keeping him alive with their breath. The brightness of wherever he was lit up his eyelids and made him remember that he was not dead.

Nothing coherent came to mind as his thoughts came back to him. He remembered the key. Of course the key was for Alice's room, the hatter was just too scattered to remember where he was in the castle. The key to the room they were standing at was with Fleta, of course Stayne had one but his key ring was melted down when he caught wind of the hatter's unwelcome visit. He knew he would come eventually, but why now? After a year of Stayne's abuse and mutilation the hatter came to take his wife away now?

Admittedly, the circumstances were odd, but he had something to focus on now. He needed to die; he could not wake up into that hell again.

* * *

The hatter did not want in any way to keep that terrible man alive. But in order to bring Alice home he needed to make him tell where she was. A woman with long white hair found them in the stairwell and immediately went to work bringing Stayne back to life. Tarrant recognized her; she looked like one of the doctors at Marmoreal. But he knew that to be impossible because no person in their right mind would want to come here.

"Where does the king live in this castle?" Tarrant asked, his voice was laced with tension and fear.

Compressing Stayne's chest, she asked him to take the keys from her pocket and figure out which one fit into the door.

Mally took the pleasure of rummaging through her pockets to find the ring. It was heavy so it fell out on its own.

With trial and error Tarrant found the right one. The hallway that opened to them was vast and open. There were no windows. There was only one door at the end. The hatter's nerves were on end. It seemed as if his entire life was at the end of that corridor.

Tarrant dropped his sword and fled to the other end. He actually slammed himself into the door he was so excited. He heard shuffling behind the door; he whipped out the key and turned the lock with a click.

* * *

There was a bang at her door, Alice had no idea what was going on outside. All she knew was that if Tarrant was not the one who walked away she had no idea what she would do. She looked down at Tyler; he truly was the only sane thing in this place. Tracing his scar she thought of the many things he would miss, his beautiful eyes were gone. His hair was almost white it was so blond, she found herself finding the different features in his face. The ones that looked like Tarrant those that looked like her.

She heard the lock turn open and watched through the darkness as someone come close.

"A-Alice?" a sweet, perfect, wonderful lisping voice asked for her. Tears formed at her eyes, her pregnant belly did not allow her to run but she shuffled to him. Tyler cooed and hummed with outstretched arms as they neared Tarrant.

Alice could not see his face but she searched his neck with her lips until she found his. She almost forgot what a kiss filled with love felt like. The baby whined slightly from between them.

"Tarrant, I love you, I do so much. I've missed you so much." She whispered to him.

"I love you too; we're in a bit of a hurry now. We need to get out of here." He breathed into her hair.

Tyler was crying now, demanding their attention. Tarrant scowled at him and gave Alice a disapproving look. Before she could explain he was rushing her back down the hall. As they reached the doorway Alice bust into hysterical tears.

"Alice? What is wrong?" Tarrant looked to the body then to Alice.

His heart sank; Stayne was the father of her son. This must have caused them to have some sort of attachment.

There was so much blood, Fleta's lips and arms were covered in red stains. Stayne's body was below her, breathing. His eyes stared at her, out of fear she refused to be near him.

"He's not awake your Majesty, don't worry." Fleta said, "If you become too stressed you'll hurt the baby."

"Fleta, you are an intelligent and capable woman. After all the nights you spent caring for my injuries do you think I could possibly care if he was awake or not? Knowing him, he is probably fine and waiting for us just down these stairs." Alice explained through her panting breaths. She wished that his breathing would stop and she never had to see his eyes open again.

"Do you understand how absolutely mad you sound right now?" the hatter explained smilingly.

Tarrant did not look down as he walked over the body in the way, being sure to step on his arm and kick his face. When Alice was reluctant to follow through her momentary psychosis he thought nothing of just picking her up. The little one in her arms was crying hard now.

"Alice, would you please make that thing be quiet?" Tarrant was looking down at Tyler.

"He is not a 'thing' he's a baby. His name is Tyler and I've been trying to keep him calm through all of this." Now was not the time to tell him of Tyler's heritage. She would give him that news when they had some time alone.

A grimace appeared on his face and he continued toward the exit of the castle. They were almost free from this horrible mess.

Alice pressed her face into the hatter's white neck and breathed in his smell. Before she knew what was happening, she was asleep.

When Alice awoke she was in a bed, everything was quiet.

'Oh God, no please tell me that was not a dream...' she thought.

When she opened her eyes and looked around everything was white and she knew. It was not a dream, Tyler was safe. She was safe.

She sat up and saw that her pregnant belly was reasonably larger than she remembered.

'How long was I asleep?' she wondered, a sound made it obvious that she wasn't alone.

"You're awake."

A tall man with vibrant orange hair and lime green eyes had a shy smile on his face as he wandered to Alice's bed.

"Tarrant!" Alice reached out to him. Then she noticed something was wrong. Where was Tyler?

"Do you feel alright? I was beginning to worry. You haven't been awake in a long time." Tarrant explained with a sad glance at the lump that indicated her pregnancy.

"Love, where is Tyler? Is he alright? I need him." Alice's words came out in a jumble.

Tarrant just looked at her, and then he reached up and brushed a hair from her face.

"He is with Mirana. What are you going to do with him… now" he looked down at her nervously.

Alice cocked her eyebrow and smiled at him, "You are going to help me raise our son."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I got surgery this week and therefore have not been on a computer in a long while. I'm jumping right back in! Let me know what you think about this short one!**

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Chapter 19

It hit him in many ways. The news that you are a father is not something to be taken lightly. The first few waves were of dubiousness. Alice's fiercely sincere eyes told him otherwise so another wave hit him. Pride, the small being in this magnificent woman's arms was of their creation. She had carried his child through that hell.

A beautiful person with white hair came in and delivered Tyler to Alice for safe keeping.

Alice could only look up at her love in desperate need of a response. When his eyes finally settled on a hazy purple color she knew something was very wrong.

He was afraid.

"A-Alice I…." he stuttered

She leaned back slightly to adjust Tyler, but also to give Tarrant a better look at his baby. The hatter looked at the child in disbelief.

"Alice… I cannot be a father." Alice reached up and brushed his face with the back of her hand, "There is barely enough room in my head for thoughts of you, how will i ever be able to think of anything but him now?"

Almost like a magnet he pressed his face in to her touch, "How could I let you do this alone?"

Small dimples appeared on Alice's cream colored cheeks as a smile blessed her lips. It took all of Tarrant's power not to kiss her into pieces. But, alas, pieces of Alice would not be good for Tyler. He might choke on them.

"Are you upset with me?" Alice asked from beneath thick eyelashes.

"Why would I be?" asked Tarrant

"Well….I'm not sure there is just…" her voice faded away stealing her mind away with it.

Stinging traitor tears formed in her eyes when she thought of all of the disgusting things she had to do under… _his_ rule. She was in fear that Tarrant would not want her after enduring such an impure lifestyle for so long. The beatings, punishments, corsets, marriage and of course those many nights and days spent in that room alone with that monstrous man.

Alice sat down and said something incomprehensible and held Tyler close. Her eyes looked drawn and dark as she crept into her dark, safe place in her mind. How could she ever let her sweet tempered Tarrant find out what went on in there?

When Alice fell into her madness, Tarrant dared not to disturb her other than to take hold of Tyler and tuck a blanket around her. She had been through a trying time and a few bouts of madness were unavoidable. She was now sitting curled upon a chair with deep creases under her eyes. She would babble on about something Tarrant was sure he wanted to know nothing about. Something about a ring.

He could not help himself from cradling his little one. He was just irresistible like his mother, something about his smile was entirely Alice, but the way his chin was set was Tarrant's.

It made his heart drop when he looked at his son's little eyes. There was a white line across his beautiful face through his clouded blue eyes. Where there should be perfect Alice or Mad Hatter eyes. He had seen this kind of injury once before. People from Outlandish settlements had vibrant eyes like himself. All a man had to do was look at his baby's eyes to know if they belonged to him or not.

Of course one look at Tyler's vibrant eyes must have thrown Stayne into a frenzy. A child has no choice over who he his born to. Why was he punished? What could an infant have done to warrant such a brutal attack? His little boy would never see his beautiful mother, or the Castle of Marmoreal. The little boy, as it as a visual line of work, could also never be a hatter

A new kind of rage began to build inside that he had never felt before. This severe feeling could not be pushed aside, Stayne had not only ruined the body and mind of the woman he loved but he had the audacity to take away his son's eyes.

Knowing that Alice was incapacitated Tarrant stayed with Tyler until she could come around. To pass the time, he memorized every inch of the sweet face he gazed at. He was perfect in every way.

Small cooing sounds and nasal whines were music to his ears. The sounds prevented him from doing, thinking, saying what he wanted to do to Ilosovic Stayne.

That… thing of a man was in a cell. It had several guards at every angle of it. There were no windows or openings at all. Not even a door. They built the room around him. The only way in or out was through a tiny hole to peek in on him with.

'_He does not even deserve death.' _

"Nae, yer gae tak mair'n he ken gie…" his dark voice came out hushed; his sleeping family was all around him.

His mind withdrew slightly allowing his madness to seep from his tightly wound psyche.

'_For now, you need to take care of them, little Alice needs you and so does your son.'_

With that Tarrant put Tyler an his crib and plucked Alice from her chair totuck her into bed. There was too much on his mind to sleep tonight. This night would be one of pondering. He was a father. His Alice was mad. His child was blind.

Mostly bad thoughts came up, but one movement or sound from his golden beauties remind him that there are more important things to be concerned with.

Gently, the orange haired man laid an arm over his Alice to pull her closer to him. Since they were not married this was not acceptable behavior. But acceptable and unacceptable had never agreed with him before so he ignored both and followed his heart. Not one person would dare to challenge him on this matter. His first night with Alice and their son, all sleeping in silence together. Peace was with them at last.

One last unopportunistic moment later, Tarrant sleepily ran his fingers down the length of Alice's body and came across some movement. At first he suspected she might be hungry and then the movement came more powerfully. Alice made a pain noise and wrapped her belly with her hands in her sleep. The movements were not hungry movements. They were baby movements.

Tarrant was immediately awake. He sat straight up and stared at her ever-so-slightly enlarged belly with deep orange eyes.

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I'm sorry! I'll try to finish soon! Thank you all!


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Here is a translation of Tarrant's angry outlandish: "No, you're going to take more than he can give..." Quite the threat! Onward!**

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Chapter 20

Darkness came over Alice as she thought over everything that had happened to her.

For some reason, she remembered vividly the images that taunted her. That man with raven black hair, his deep scars and tall stature were pieces of her memory that would never leave her. Her mind seeped away when she thought about the mound of life that was building within her.

She rubbed her hands together, she could still feel him on her skin, and pressed them to her head. Maybe if she pressed hard enough the memories would squeeze out. She held Tyler close, this little man was her safety blanket. Knowing that he needed her was the only thing that anchored her mind.

The last thing of reality she could see was Tarrant's worried, pale face looking down at her. He held out his hand to help her sit, she could only feel him now. There was nothing in this life left for her to live for.

No, that's not true. Tyler needed her, Tarrant's beautiful baby.

She knew that Tarrant would be concerned with her reaction, she was much madder than a hatter now. There was only one way to save her from this.

Underland, her home, was now a place of torture and despair.

The next thing she remembered was being in a bed, with a man lying next to her. He was stroking her side with rough fingers. In her head she knew this man was of no threat, but her memories forced her to react out of fear.

As his fingers played on Alice's stomach she felt a tingling movement from within. They then froze. She curled up and away from his touch. This was all so familiar.

"Alice?" She heard him say.

She squeezed her tear filled eyes shut and covered her head. Maybe if she hid he would leave her be.

"Alice!"

She compacted her body until she thought she might disappear.

"Alice, you need to open your eyes." She knew he was not Stayne. Yet she could not convince herself to trust the voice.

'_If you open your eyes you are going to see that you're still trapped. Tarrant never rescued you, Stayne is laying next to you.' _Her cruel mind urged.

The voice came again with surprising softness, "Love, why is your tummy alive?"

The movement of Ilosovic's child was shifting slightly within her. It was only a tiny body as of now but in the coming months there would be a small person in her womb.

It hurt more than any pain he could have inflicted to know that she was going to bear his offspring. She would love it of course; its heritage was not the burden. It was the memories she would be forced to recall each time she saw it.

Finally, she opened her eyes and relaxed. She felt hot breathing on her ear; she unraveled herself and turned her head to look.

"Tarrant, my tummy is not alive." She mumbled through a tangle of golden waves.

He cocked one red eyebrow and gave her a quizzical look, "Why would it move then?"

She looked into his curiously blue eyes with sadness. Knowing this information was most definitely going to hurt him she was reluctant to sweep that innocent look from his face.

"I'm…," His lips twitched, "Tarrant…" She felt totally hopeless; the poor man had been through enough.

His face was drawn and bone white, eyes staring without seeing. Was Alice destined to a life of heartbreak?

As he walked out the door in a ghost like silence she wondered fleetingly if she would see him again. She had hurt him too much. She was a monster and did not deserve him, just like Stayne said.

Tyler began to cry at the sound of the slamming door.

* * *

In his mind he knew that Stayne would haunt Alice forever, but this was ridiculous. When she admitted that she was pregnant he lost his head. It would have been…unwise to stay in that room with her. He knew somehow that the man would find a way to ruin her further.

For a moment he considered running and just giving up. He now had a responsibility as a father to stay with his child though. Running would only make things worse for his Alice. He did not want to see her suffer more than she already was.

He did not know how long he had been wandering around or where he was going. It seemed as if he had used evaporating abilities to appear where he was now. It was almost eerie how this place attracted him.

The cell, which contained his worst nightmare, was in front of him.

The cell walls were the only thing between him and Ilosovic Stayne. The husband of the woman he loves and the father of her future child.

The man who caused his son's blindness and Alice's loss of muchness. There were more wrongs committed by this man than he dared to think about

There was nothing that could possibly prevent the storm that was about to come.

Tarrant was so close to revenge he could taste it. It was not a flavor he liked but it was what made him want to kill that man. Everything in his body ached to take his life; the satisfaction was stolen from him at the castle.

'Well, Alice would be a widow and perhaps she would choose to…remove herself from her current situation.' he thought.

The small observation hole was the first thing he went to. He closed one eye to get a good look inside. Maybe the monster was already suffering. Perhaps he had taken his own life. Although these ideas were tantalizing they were not filled with the satisfaction he craved. He looked into the tiny opening and his mouth fell open with pure horror.

There was nothing.

The cell was empty.

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Thank you everyone for reading!


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Sorry it's taken so long, freshman year in college is rough! There should only be a few more chapters.**

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The cell walls were the only thing between him and Ilosovic Stayne. The husband of the woman he loves and the father of her future child.

_The man who caused his son's blindness and Alice's loss of muchness. There were more wrongs committed by this man than he dared to think about_

_There was nothing that could possibly prevent the storm that was about to come._

_Tarrant was so close to revenge he could taste it. It was not a flavor he liked but it was what made him want to kill that man. Everything in his body ached to take his life; the satisfaction was stolen from him at the castle._

_'Well, Alice would be a widow and perhaps she would choose to…remove herself from her current situation.' he thought._

_The small observation hole was the first thing he went to. He closed one eye to get a good look inside. Maybe the monster was already suffering. Perhaps he had taken his own life. Although these ideas were tantalizing they were not filled with the satisfaction he craved. He looked into the tiny opening and his mouth fell open with pure horror._

_There was nothing._

_The cell was empty._

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Chapter 21

"…And everything was dark."

Tarrant could hear people around him, shouting. He felt blinded by the fury that filled him, what fueled this rage was the empty, dark sight before him. Knights danced two and fro trying to find any scrape of evidence of Stayne's escape. They asked the hatter what had alarmed him of the escape.

There was nothing to be found. Stayne was nowhere to be found because he was hiding in the most obvious of places.

Unfortunately for every person searching, the man could not be found. It would be impossible to suspect where he was hiding.

Clinging for dear life inside the back of Tarrant's collar was an unbelievably tiny and naked Ilosovic Stayne.

The very tiny bottle of pishalver was not found until the following morning when the sun was just beginning to set.

As he held tightly onto fabric strands he contemplated what he would do now. The only person he could love was gone and he would more than likely never have the chance to see her again.

His child would be killed by this mad man he found himself attached to. The worst part of it all was that he knew he deserved this.

From the time he took Alice captive he knew he was playing with something much worse than fire. His head was in the bandersnatch's mouth awaiting that crunch of skull.

Alice was Tarrant Hightopp's woman. Although he acknowledged this he did not consider it a threat in any way.

The only way to keep his wife was to continually show her that she was not wanted by the hatter. Take liberties that ought not to be taken. The woman had gone through more due to his insecurities than she had ever deserved.

Yes. She had been with another man before marriage. But, he was also an offender of such behavior. To treat that beautiful, magnificent woman like he had on their wedding day was despicable. Whatever Hightopp had in store for him was entirely deserved.

No. Everything he did was out of love. He needed to keep Alice; he needed to show her that she's wrong. That he was meant to be with her, not that mangy hatter.

She deserved a king, not a pauper.

After all she is his wife! What the milliner had done was wrong.

Did the man not think he knew about that little tryst they involved themselves with? What _good_ husband would have permitted his wife to take part in such behavior?

Away from his thoughts were stomping footsteps that grew more agitated and crushing with each blow. He truly did not expect that Fleta's pishalver would shrink him to this proportion but it seems to have come in handy. It was meant to be a last resort.

In a way this was his last resort.

He could leave and live peacefully; completely and utterly alone.

* * *

There was an orange haired man in Alice's room, he was very upset about something but ignored her pestering questions. Tyler nursed while his father quietly muttered every kind of nasty word.

Alice's thoughts were far away yet so close. There was a child within her that grew stronger each day, she was unsure of anything. The hatter wanted her to have it removed like some kind of growth, but Alice was raised by Victorian standards and intended on staying by them.

She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but from the looks of it she would be ready to birth again very soon.

This prospect was terrifying; her heart beat hard, so hard that it hurt her chest at times. Fleta told her that another child could kill her; Tyler's birth was horrific, after all.

From her experience with Tyler she could not imagine not loving a child no matter how they came to be. The string of cusses and Outlandish terms came to a sudden halt.

"Alice, there's something I need to tell you."

His lovely Alice turned her head toward him. He needed to tell her, that monster could be anywhere.

"He's gone."

She became rigid and her chest rose and fell quickly. Her face was pale as his favorite teacup. This was the last thing she wanted to learn after everything she had endured.

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**Once again, sorry for the delay. Let me know what you think of this one!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Note: Oh my goodness! Sorry for this horrible delay! College is rough when you're a pre-vet major! Any-hoo, this is one of my last chapters. Thanks for reading!**

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Blood everywhere.

There were colors he had never seen before. That meant something considering how many hats he had procured throughout the years.

"You need to stay out here."

A nurse, fat like a cupcake with vanilla frosting hair, told the Hatter that he needed to stay outside of His Alice's room.

So confused, he merely obeyed. Much like a child, he listened to everything the physicians and cupcake ladies said.

The last thing he remembered before being rushed from the room, was her lovely head dropping from its typically high perch.

No, her head wilted. Like a sad white flower, she wilted. And she hit the ground from her seat.

The Hatter leapt over to her out of pure instinct. Then he saw all the blood. It seeped out of her belly from between her legs. He flipped her over so he could awaken her. People aren't supposed to just fall asleep when they need to be awake.

Looking down he noticed that her pregnant belly was deflating.

Then he saw it. He saw that creature moving inside. Where his own baby should have been squirming with life, there was a tiny monster moving beneath her skin, leaving handprints on Alice.

The blackness of his own rage filled him and he remembered nothing else.

Now, he was outside of their room, sitting against the wall. There was no Time for the doctors to move her to the hospital wing. Time was a fickle bastard. He prevented the Hatter from seeing his own baby boy for such a long time while his woman was trapped. But now, Time did not have the ability to slow down or stop so Alice could breathe or let her heart beat.

Luckily for Time, her heart kept on beating and beating. Terrant could hear it on a beep-beep-booping monitor. The sound was muffled through the door.

A few times it stuttered and went beep-beeeeeeeeeeeep…booop.

But it always picked back up again. Only when the white frosting nurse came out, did his own heart begin to flip-flop.

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Acting as a piece of dust, Stayne jumped his hat-shaped ship. For a few moments the disgusting peon he had hitched a ride on had arched over Alice when she lost consciousness. That loon thought he had the right to touch Alice. She was not the Hatter's to touch. She was his and his alone. Proof was in that belly, swollen with his child. This was the first time he saw her in such a long time. With such a small window of opportunity to escape, he had little time to look her over before escaping through a flaw in the wood along the wall.

Once inside the wall, safe, he thought back on how his wife looked. Her stomach looked rather flat compared to the last child. She couldn't have started labor, could she? The baby was not far enough along to survive.

It dawned on him that Alice was not won. She was not his. This fetus would not survive and he would be lost in her life forever. She wouldn't see his child to remind her of their life together. They should have been happy. That deranged, mercury infested man ruined everything.

Alice had beautiful dresses, money, a little boy, a big room, food, water and whatever medical needs she could possibly need, Stayne could provide it for her. She was too needy. She wanted this psychopath more than she wanted her own husband. It was wong. She was wrong.

No.

It was impossible to blame this victim. Stayne, in a moment of clarity, forced himself to leave the castle.

Once removed from her allure, Alice would have to remain a memory. He forced her to endure terrible pain as well as carry a child that she obviously never wanted.

Stayne would find something to bide his time. So that when he came back, she would love him back and they could make try and a new baby.

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Alice's world was white and fuzzy. Even the words she heard through the cotton in her ears was muted. There was no way to know where she was or how long she had been asleep. Life was a white rabbit with a broken watch.

"This is very important Tarrant. You need to listen to me!"

There was a muffled thud. Against what? Alice couldn't tell you. It sounded kind of squishy.

"Stop quacking at me you fat cupcake!"

Another thud. Rattling knobs and a heart monitor told her what was happening.

She was dying.

She was going to die with all of the memories of the tragedy that had befallen her and her little Tyler.

Her lover was being told to choose who should live. This was so similar to the last time it was terrifying. She willed him to choose her baby, but she knew that was a hopeless wish.

Tyler! Where is he?

"That doesn't make any sense! Just tell me what you want us to do! She only has a few more minutes. The blood isn't clotting and there is nothing we can do."

Panic set in. Death was going to take her and she would never see the two loves of her life.

A door opened. Like a firework explosion, her sensation returned in a forceful wave.

Screams erupted from some depth of Alice's soul. The pain of her existence was too intense, she couldn't handle it alone. Tarrent's hair came into her view and it had an immediate calming effect.

She was safe in her Hatter's arms, crying.

"Where's my baby?" She croaked out of panic when she saw her flattened body.

Sweat and blood tangled her golden hair. Tarrant's rough fingers brushed away her tears. His lips were a tight line and his eyes were impossible to look at. Sadness exuded through his every pore.

"Don't cry, nothing is okay. But you shouldn't cry anyway." He tried his hardest to comfort her.

She questioned him again. With a fire in her voice, which would make a bandersnatch spill its own guts.

"Where is the baby!"

"It's tiny and you can barely see it in the blankets. If you look closely you can find it. The gooey red things were nasty but…"

The Hatter went on but she lost her patience and grabbed his face with both hands.

"Tarrent. Where is my baby." It wasn't a question. More of a demand.

At that very moment a nurse must have heard her hysterics and scurried through the door with an impossibly small bundle of towels in her arms.

"Don't try to stand, love. I'll bring him over for yah." With his small pink face unveiled, the nurse gave Alice her son.

The Hatter spoke in a small voice, "A healthy, tiny baby boy."

An apt description for this particular baby. Alice was far too weak to hold him and Tarrant far too disgusted to touch him. So he laid unevenly across her chest. Eyes were still glued shut. She touched his little velvet face.

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He was bald, which helped Tarrant to pretend that he was his child. If he had been born with raven black hair, he might not have survived the birthing process. The Hatter had been given a choice while Alice was still in labor. He could save the baby or Alice. Alice his obvious choice, and the choice actually relieved him.

But somehow the little leech survived. He had been tangled up inside of her with the umbilical cord wrapped around his body. The doctors gave him a few weeks to live because he was not fully developed or something. Tarrent did not hear much after the doctor broke the news that the child had lived.

The damned thing lived out of spite! This tiny thing had no chance of survival outside of Alice's body. Yet, somehow it was breathing and it was pink and it was moving around like any other baby.

Tarrant had never seen a newborn infant before. It looked so fragile. He was afraid that if he touched its skin it would break into a million pieces.

"Momma and baby lived! What a miracle!" The pastry nurse choked out a sob.

Heart sinking, he reminded himself that this was not his own baby. When he saw him, Tarrant tried so hard not to love him. But it was not a possibility. That little creature had a hand on his heart like Alice and Tyler.

"Alice?" The Hatter wondered at her, "Would you mind terribly if I went for a walk?"

* * *

She was too tired and her body too worn to fight. Without an answer, he left. Tears clung desperately to her eyelashes. She wanted him to love this baby the way she did. But that was impossible; even she knew that it was not entirely sane of her to keep the child.

"Alice, we do have some bad news for you. I'm sorry..." The doctor had come in without a noise and spooked her, "Your womb is a disaster. I don't know what happened to you but you will never conceive again. I'm sorry."

* * *

Tyler was just a baby and Tarrant knew this, but he felt it necessary to ask him for advice.

"What should I do about this thing your mother has?" As if the infant was some kind of growth.

The baby turned toward his father and turned his head up with a coo. His scarred eyes were hard to look at, but Tyler had other ways of acknowledging a person.

"It's not my problem, but I feel this odd compulsion to take him and show him how to make grand hats…"

With Tyler's help, Tarrant came to the conclusion that he would care for the baby regardless of his sire. He would never be able to love him the way he loves his Alice of his Tyler; but he couldn't hate the thing for how it came to be.

As the weeks passed, Tarrent helped Alice with everything from calming Tyler to removing mucus from the new baby's throat. The new child was beginning to be called "Namey" because "That nameless bastard child" was too long to use in a sentence.

Alice was as happy as she could imagine herself ever being. The only problem was that without her former capture, she could not be disavowed from being a married woman. This caused her much distress. She was reminded daily of her plight by that tiny baby's face.

Some days she was happy as a sunray, but on others she would say or do horrible things.

Tarrant had on more than one occasion needed to collect Alice from the rooftop or snatch an injuring instrument from her hands. This was not his old Alice but she would have to due for now.

He would kiss her all over and hold her tightly when she slept. But he could never hold her tight enough. She was always too far away, trapped by her own mind. Some days she would wake up and attack him with such a fury that he can't get out of the way of lamps, glasses, milk bottles, furniture, so on so forth. These days, he wondered if she was madder than he. Sadly, he knew the answer to that.

After three months, Alice was hospitalized indefinitely. She was causing a ruckus and was considered a danger to herself and others. The others, which were most important, were her small children. Tyler was never harmed when her mind split and went to that terrible place. It was always Stayne's child. His nurse found bruises and sometimes scrapes. He would be left alone at times screaming for his mother.

Tarrant defended her actions to the best of his ability, but the crown's court determined that they had enough. She was institutionalized and there was very little he could do to help her aside from a daily visit with the boys.

That foul, mangy, knave had taken everything from her. She had no muchness left because of him. It never occurred to him how much muchness she needed to survive in that horrible place day after day. He watched as the love of his life began to deteriorate.

She had been a wonderful mother for her Tyler, but this other child wracked her nerves. She would not even refer to him as her own.

Mad as a hatter, Tarrant plotted with anger. Perhaps if he brought Stayne to her with his head on a platter she would feel safe once more. But if he left, his sons would have no one to care for them. He had few options.

That was, of course, that while visiting his love; Alice offered her own kind of advice.

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**I can't think of a good name for the new baby, who wants to help me out?**


	23. Chapter 23

**_I'm Not Okay_**

_I do not own any Alice in Wonderland characters._

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Tarrent remained quiet while Alice explained her new plan.

"Could we just pretend like nothing ever happened."

Alice looked at her lover, she saw him bristle slightly. She did her best not to mention anything to him about what happened, but sometimes these things needed to be discussed. She was so tired of the fighting all of the time. Tired of the endless sadness. Maybe if she convinced herself it was a bad dream she could live happily.

Tarrent looked at her, confused. "How?"

She then explained to the best of her now mentally unstable ability how they were going to have to act from now on. She needed to see Tyler. All she wanted was to will the pain away and live happily ever after.

As he looked into her eyes, he was obviously distressed. He knew everything she had done to her little son. He loved the baby, but Alice could not. Maybe this was her way of loving the poor creature. By pretending to love him. She wasn't pretending to love everyone, just the baby. He needed to understand how much muchness she needed to survive. Maybe too much.

It was almost a year of pretending to be happy and normal before she was allowed to come out of the hospital for long periods of time.

One of the best days of the Hatter's life came while his love was still in the hospital. They had been living with no news on the sick leech that had done such irreparable damage to Alice for some time. It was a completely random day during the summer. Bayard was scratching what he thought was a tick. When he heard it start yelling at him. Bayard had heard that voice all too many times. He knew he needed to bring it to the attention to one of the Queen's guard.

The Queen insisted that he just allow nature to take it course and bug would be squashed. The dog obeyed joyously, after all the knave had kept his family captive as well. When he smelled a metallic, mammal smell he knew he had been the one to kill Alice's abductor. He had smelled like human blood but more rancid.

This tick really was a blood-sucking parasite. Stayne was killed like the damned flea bitten creature he was, with the scratch of a dog's hind paw.

Although it tortured Tarrent that he couldn't have been the one to end that foul creature's life, he could be contented by the knowledge that he had died painfully. Not painfully enough, nothing could ever be painful enough to erase the damage he had done to Alice. But enough that Tarrent could live without dissatisfaction.

This was the best day not only because it involved the final death of that monster, but also because that meant Alice could finally be his wife! They did not have a ceremony like he had wanted. Tarrent merely gave Alice a ring, which bound to her flesh and made her His Alice. Forever.

This made her happy; he saw her smile for the first time in what felt like ages.

She was doing much better these days. She spent time with both of her sons now, not just Tyler. The littler one turned out to look nothing like his…. father.

Alice decided on a name. She named him Abel. She said it had to do with a story about two brothers from something called a Bible from her world. The hatter didn't understand why she picked that one but after she picked a name she seemed much happier to hold him and Pretend Love him. It almost didn't look like she was pretending anymore. Luckily, as time went by, Abel looked more and more like his mother. He looked just, exactly and completely like His Alice. Pretty eyes, light hair; sweet, pale skin. The baby was a happy one.

Alice was much more muchier than she had been even a few months ago. A doctor from far away told her that she had something called a PTSD. Tarrent was stuck on the "T" part. He was trying to think of ways tea could help her feel better. It could help in all ways of course! Perhaps he should make her a new tea cup…

He had ideas of what the letters P-T-S-D stood for. Perhaps "Prone To Sad Disorientation" or the more likely, "Peach Tea Spewing Drains".

The hatter had been caring for his son and Abel for the past year. He loved it. He could make beautiful, colorful, happy, tiny hats for Tyler and Abel. He loved being a father and loved loving the boys. They were always so happy when they were all together.

Their mommy was able to leave the hospital now, only with a frosted nurse in white following her. But that was better than No Alice like they had endured for a week when she lost her hatter and tried to kill Abel. Tarrent had been the one to snatch him from her and put a cold, wet cloth on his bruised neck. Alice had tried to hurt the hatter on a few occasions too. It was an atrocious cycle.

At first, he wanted to hate the baby for what he was. But he learned quickly that it was not likely he could ever hate any part of Alice.

Ever since that week, she did everything she could to make it up to Abel. Both of the boys were excited to see Alice now. She lit up like a happy candle when she saw her babies now and had not had a fit of Madness in months.

Tyler was growing very fast, he even said words now. Words that made sense! He could ask for anything. If he wanted to go to the garden, he would ask "Daddy, Garden?" and point outside.

If he wanted Abel to stop screaming all night, he would say, "Abel, Too Loud!"

Luckily Abel wasn't alone in the screaming all of the time. When Tarrent had his Tough Moments he would leave them in the care of the Queen and her tenants. His Tough Moments were not as frequent as they had been. They were less terrifying than his Mad Moments. Those were now particularly rare. These days only occurred when someone brought up those bad years.

Tarrent loved Abel, but he hated where he came from. How could a perfect Alice Copy could be part of that Maniac, Murderer, Monster, Mental, Mean, Monstrosity….

He felt a tug at his pants and he shook his head of the thought. Tyler was reaching up to him, wanting to be held. His father sighed and picked him up. The eyes really broke his already broken heart. Those broken pieces were very tiny now, he was unsure how he would ever put them back together. It was only full when his family was together. Alice, Tyler, Abel and himself. All Mad. All Happy as they would ever be.

Today was the day though! Alice was allowed to come home! They could all live together. Two horrendously mad parents and two beautiful sons.

Tarrent had worked on their rooms for weeks. It was nearly perfect, minus the missing Alice. But she would be there soon enough!

He was in their room with the boys when she was walked in by an attendant. She looked like her mind was floating somewhere above him. She seemed barely awake. Perhaps a nap was all she needed. Tarrent let the boys play on the ground so he could help his Love into Their home. The attendant asked him to keep an eye on her and to report any odd happenings. He gave her his word. Although that expression was so odd. How does one give a word? He pondered this concept as he lead Alice around the room, giving her a chance to gain acquaintance with the furniture and doors. The room liked her and she liked the room so now she could stay with them.

Alice liked the idea of some form of normalcy after the past two years. She had chosen to come here because she felt that her life was incomplete at home. But here… so many tragedies. So much pain. That was not how she wanted her life to be. She wanted her life to be free and nonsensical. The opposite of what she had endured thus far.

Today was a step in the right direction. She was allowed to move in with her husband and sons. She now loved Abel the way he deserved to be loved. Post-partum depression really hit Alice hard. She would spend the rest of their lives making it up to Abel. Between the PPD and the PTSD Tarrent was beginning to think His Now Much More Muchy Alice was made of letters. Alice smiled when he brought up this point. She reassured him that no, she was not made of letters. But she was made of crazy. She smiled all of the time now. She was finally in the place she was supposed to be from the beginning.

Now she could finally live the way she planned from the start. She could wake up in the morning and talk to the flowers. She could drink tea at every hour of each day. Take long strolls and see all of the perfectly absurd creatures of Underland. She could finally live with her Mad Hatter, the absolute love of her life. She could wake up and see those eyes each morning and kiss his soft lips all day if she wanted to. After all of this time she could finally allow herself to be happy. Happy as a mad woman could be with her Hatter and their two beautiful sons.

* * *

_And there we have it. The last chapter. Sorry if you're all disappointed by how Stayne died. He just needed to die, he making Alice miserable for farrrr too long. Thanks for reading! I appreciate the support! You guys are the best !_


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